Yankee Magazine January/February 2019

GREAT GUIDED TRIPS

SN

DOGSLED

MEET THE NEW MAKERS OF MODERN HEIRLOOMS

HITTING THE STACKS: PANCAKES WE LOVE

features

81

Guided Winter Adventures

From a dogsledding trip in Vermont to tackling the summit of Mount Washington, following the leader has never been so much fun.

92

The New Makers

Meet 10 gifted artisans from across our region who are pushing the bounds of what’s expected. By Annie Graves

106

Under the Dark Sky

Photojournalist Steven G. Smith brings his focus to a lesser-known southern New England landscape.

116

Taking the Wheel

A novice boat captain in Stony Creek, Connecticut, learns to navigate the choppiest waters of her young life. By Mel Allen

120

Big Plan on Campus

How a little engineering college in Massachusetts is retooling higher ed. By Rowan Jacobsen

by Maili Lafayette. Location: The Shore Trail (Maine Huts & Trails), in Maine’s Carrabassett Valley region.

by Mark Fleming; wardrobe January/February 2019 CONTENTS

styling

ON THE COVER

home

32 /// Living Small

Pared down to just the essentials, this New Hampshire artist’s studio-home is far from basic. By Annie

Graves

38 /// House for Sale

Lay claim to a Newport mansion of your own on a grand avenue that tycoons once called home. By

the Yankee Moseyer

food

44 /// A World of Pancakes

Chefs around New England are cooking up inspired international takes on a favorite comfort food.

By Christine Quinlan

54 /// Cooking at Cottage Farm

Looking beyond the garden (and out to sea) for fresh, local fare. By

Krissy O’Shea

57 /// Weekends with Yankee

In the kitchen with famed chef and Connecticut resident Jacques Pépin, one of the culinary guests in our TV show’s upcoming season. By Amy Traverso

travel

62 /// Could You Live Here?

Schussing and noshing in Stowe, Vermont, the ski capital of the East. By Annie Graves

72 /// The Best 5

Recharge and refocus for the new year with these top wellness escapes. By Kim Knox

Beckius

74 /// Out & About

From thrilling ski contests to tasty food festivals, we round up regional events that are worth the drive.

INSIDE YANKEE 14

FIRST PERSON

Snugging yourself deep into a snowbank takes cozy to a new place—or a very old one. By Leath

Tonino

16

LIFE IN THE KINGDOM

As his sons grow into young men, a father ponders a future without them nearby. By

Ben Hewitt

20

FIRST LIGHT

The joys of jack jumping, a timeless Vermont tradition that returns anyone to childhood. By Leath

24 KNOWLEDGE & WISDOM

Tonino

Calculating the rewards for winter chores, plus fitness advice from a former desk jockey on The Office 25

UP CLOSE

How Jake Burton Carpenter became the father of modern snowboarding.

We know you want to make your retirement savings last, so it’s important to have an income plan you can feel confident about. Together, we can:

• Navigate the transition from saving to generating income

• Determine if a guaranteed* income annuity is right for you

• Create an income stream that lasts

Set up an appointment with your Fidelity financial professional, or call 866.466.0635 to talk about your retirement income needs today.

To learn more, visit: Fidelity.com/diversifiedplan

Keep in mind that investing involves risk. The value of your investment will fluctuate over time, and you may gain or lose money.

*Guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Certain products available through Fidelity Investments are issued by third-party companies, which are una liated with any Fidelity Investments company. Insurance products are distributed by Fidelity Insurance Agency, Inc., and, for certain products, by Fidelity’s a liated broker-dealer, Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, member NYSE, SIPC, 900 Salem Street, Smithfield, RI 02917. The Fidelity Investments and pyramid design logo is a registered service mark of FMR LLC. © 2018 FMR LLC. All rights reserved. 853704.2.0

1121 Main St., P.O. Box 520, Dublin, NH 03444. 603-563-8111; editor@yankeemagazine.com

EDITORIAL

EDITOR Mel Allen

ART DIRECTOR Lori Pedrick

DEPUTY EDITOR Ian Aldrich

MANAGING EDITOR Jenn Johnson

SENIOR EDITOR/FOOD Amy Traverso

HOME & GARDEN EDITOR Annie Graves

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Joe Bills

PHOTO EDITOR Heather Marcus

DIGITAL EDITOR Aimee Tucker

DIGITAL ASSISTANT EDITOR Cathryn McCann

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Kim Knox Beckius, Ben Hewitt, Rowan Jacobsen, Krissy O’Shea, Julia Shipley

CONTRIBUTING

PHOTOGRAPHERS Kindra Clineff, Mark Fleming, Sara Gray, Corey Hendrickson, Joe Keller, Joel Laino, Little Outdoor Giants, Michael Piazza, Heath Robbins, Carl Tremblay

PRODUCTION

PRODUCTION DIRECTORS David Ziarnowski, Susan Gross

SENIOR PRODUCTION ARTISTS Jennifer Freeman, Rachel Kipka

DIGITAL

VP NEW MEDIA & PRODUCTION Paul Belliveau Jr.

DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER Amy O’Brien

YANKEE PUBLISHING INC.

established 1935

PRESIDENT Jamie Trowbridge

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Judson D. Hale Sr.

VICE PRESIDENTS Paul Belliveau Jr., Jody Bugbee, Judson D. Hale Jr., Brook Holmberg, Sandra Lepple, Sherin Pierce

CORPORATE STAFF Mike Caron, Linda Clukay, Nancy Pfuntner, Bill Price, Sabrina Salvage, Christine Tourgee

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CHAIRMAN Judson D. Hale Sr.

VICE CHAIRMAN Tom Putnam

DIRECTORS Andrew Clurman, H. Hansell Germond, Daniel Hale, Judson D. Hale Jr., Joel Toner, Cor Trowbridge, Jamie Trowbridge

FOUNDERS

ROBB & BEATRIX SAGENDORPH

PUBLISHER Brook Holmberg

ADVERTISING: PRINT/DIGITAL/TELEVISION

VICE PRESIDENT/SALES Judson D. Hale Jr.

SALES IN NEW ENGLAND

TRAVEL, NORTH Kelly Moores KellyM@yankeepub.com

TRAVEL, SOUTH Dean DeLuca DeanD@yankeepub.com

TRAVEL, WEST David Honeywell Dave_golfhouse@madriver.com

DIRECT RESPONSE Steven Hall SteveH@yankeepub.com

SALES OUTSIDE NEW ENGLAND

CANADA Françoise Chalifour, 416-363-1388

NORTHEAST Nick Romano, 203-722-6448

SOUTHEAST Rocky Kurland, 770-441-2406

AD COORDINATOR Janet Selle

For advertising rates and information: 800-736-1100, ext. 204 NewEngland.com/adinfo

MARKETING

ADVERTISING

DIRECTOR Kate Hathaway Weeks

MANAGER Valerie Lithgow

ASSOCIATE Holly Sloane

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Roslan & Campion, 212-966-4600

NEWSSTAND

VICE PRESIDENT Sherin Pierce

MARKETING MANAGER Stacey Korpi

SALES ASSOCIATE Janice Edson

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

To subscribe, give a gift, or change your mailing address, or for any other questions, please contact our customer service department: Online

NewEngland.com/contact

Phone

800-288-4284

Mail

Yankee Magazine Customer Service P.O. Box 422446 Palm Coast, FL 32142-2446

New England.com

Recipes: Classic Yankee Pot Roast

Banish the chill with our version of a New England comfort food staple.

NEWENGLAND.COM/ POT-ROAST

Travel: Favorite Winter Festivals

Mark your calendar—these frosty celebrations offer maximum winter fun.

NEWENGLAND.COM/ WINTER-FESTIVALS

Culture: How to Talk Like a New Englander

From frappes to frost heaves, we’ve got you covered with our guide.

NEWENGLAND.COM/ SLANG

THE NEW MAKERS

Travel: Go-to Restaurants for Fireside Dining Our favorite places for a top-notch meal with a side of cozy firelight.

NEWENGLAND.COM/ FIRESIDE-DINING

Intricate woven baskets, hand-forged knives, one-of-a-kind decor—there’s no end to the kinds of modern heirlooms now being created by the next generation of New England crafters. After meeting the 10 rising stars in this issue [“The New Makers,” p. 92], you can discover even more of Yankee’s favorite artists and artisans on our website, along with photo galleries of their uniquely beautiful wares, at:

NewEngland.com/handcrafted

Our sterling silver monogram Byzantine bracelet

We’ve combined your favorite elements to make the perfect sterling silver bracelet. The trend-setting bolo, the timeless look of rolled Byzantine links and a lovely handcrafted monogram. All this at a price that can’t be beat.

f abulous j ew elry & g re at p ric es f or mor e than 65 ye ar s

$69

Plus Free Shipping

Sterling Silver Byzantine Monogram Bolo Bracelet

Customized in our Rhode Island studios. Specify your three initials and which to center. Please allow an extra 3-5 business days for personalization. Adjusts to fit most wrists with sliding bead closure. Shown larger for detail. Also available in 14kt gold. Item #902695 $399

Personalized items cannot be returned.

Ross-Simons Item #893589

To receive this special offer, use offer code: CHEER106

1.800.556.7376 or visit ross-simons.com/cheer

Dear Yankee | OUR READERS RESPOND

A Tale Well Told

CATHRYN M c CANN

Yankee ’s digital assistant editor is also a serious outdoors enthusiast. So when this issue’s “Guided Winter Adventures” feature [p. 81] was coming together, “I knew I had to be involved,” says McCann, a New Hampshire native. She signed up for a group snowshoeing trek, which was “a welcome change of pace” from her usual winter activities: bombing down ski slopes and running in snowy mountains.

STEVEN

G.

SMITH

This Pulitzer Prize–winning photojournalist [“Under the Dark Sky,” p. 106] says he is “an explorer at heart,” something that goes back to his upbringing. “My family moved to West Africa when I was in grade school,” he says, “and I think that taught me to love exploring new places and meeting new people.” Today Smith lives in Coventry, Connecticut, and teaches visual journalism at UConn.

GRETA RYBUS

A photographer based in Portland, Maine, Rybus welcomed the chance to crisscross New England to create portraits of 10 standout artisans [“The New Makers,” p. 92]. “I never tire of talking to artists about their own unique process, or what inspires them to make what they make,” says Rybus, who recently collaborated with writer Katy Kelleher on Handcrafted Maine (Princeton Architectural Press).

LEATH TONINO

Despite attending college in Colorado and living all over the West, “I always return to the Green Mountains, my home,” says Tonino, who details his outdoor adventures in Vermont and beyond in his essay collection, The Animal One Thousand Miles Long (Trinity University Press). For Yankee, he writes about two activities close to his Vermonter’s heart: digging a snow cave [p. 14] and jack jumping [p. 20].

CHRISTINE QUINLAN

After 14 years in New York City—including 13 at Food & Wine —Quinlan recently moved back to Boston, where she works as a freelance writer and editor. On her assignment for this issue [“A World of Pancakes,” p. 44], she remarks: “I’ve always loved finding the ‘best’ of something in a city or region— lobster rolls, pizza, croissants, you name it. Now I can add pancakes across New England to the list.”

BRIAN SAMUELS

A Massachusetts photographer whose work has appeared in Bon Appétit and The Wall Street Journal, Samuels says he gets why pancakes are so widely appealing [“A World of Pancakes,” p. 44]. “They’re meant to serve a group of people—you’re typically not making just one—and they definitely fill you up. Every recipe I photographed for this issue was a dish that’d satisfy both body and soul!”

Mel Allen’s article on Bucksport’s human spirit and the residents’ raw commitment to one another in the face of the mill’s closing in 2014 is sensitive, outstanding, and beautifully written [“The Town That Refused to Die,” November/December].

I appreciate Allen’s focus on Bucksport’s poet laureate, Patricia Smith Ranzoni, whose voice is authentic Maine. You don’t get a whole town, particularly in northern New England, to tell its story by dropping in from outside and chatting people up.

Gabe Sousa’s photographs are remarkable. Thank you, Yankee, for the time it must have taken for such a thorough story.

H. H. Price Portland, Maine

Turning the Page

Edie Clark is one of my very favorite writers, and I’ve read all of her books. I was so glad to learn in the November/December editor’s letter that there are at least 499 other readers that regularly send her cards and good wishes. It brought tears to my eyes when I read that the last of her writings [“December Babies”] was included in that issue, but as always, I enjoyed reading it.

When sending Edie greeting cards, I always remind her how I read her books during Hurricane Sandy, in the dark with a flashlight, when we were without power for 10 days. She got me through many nights of worry. May she continue to enjoy as many happy hours as she has provided her readers.

Cynthia Kester Clifton, New Jersey

Still a Hot Item

In reference to your article about New England boiled mittens [“Knitty Gritty,” November/December]: Over the years I have saved some issues of Yankee and shared the rest with our

MIXED EMOTIONS

We watch the snowflakes hit the ground

With

local library. I knew I had kept my February 1983 issue. Made that same winter, these mittens are still in service. We no longer raise cattle, nor do we get the deep, wet cold here in southeastern Ohio that very often requires the amazing warmth of these mittens. However, they are waiting—just in case.

Meg Toomey Millfield, Ohio

Corrections and Clarifications

• The stoneware bowls and plates featured in our Thanksgiving story [“Gathering Together,” November/ December] were handcrafted by Myrth Ceramics of Allston, Massachusetts. For a list of retailers, go to myrth.us.

• In all the excitement over revealing the winners of our annual Editors’ Choice Food Awards [November/December], we missed the mark on a few details. The owner of Consider Bardwell Farm is Angela Miller, and Leslie Goff is the cheese maker. The owner of Bootblack Brand is Paul Kubiski. And the website for Curio Spice Co. is curiospice.com.

feelings mixed but candid: We love them while they’re swirling ‘round But dread them once they’ve landed.

—D.A.W.

Guiding Lights

ometimes winter can settle in with a dark thud—we’ve all felt it, at one point or another—and when it does, inspiration is needed like a burst of blue sky and sun. This issue is filled with that burst: in stories of New Englanders following their hearts and their passions, stories that may prod you to leave the warmth of the fireplace and see what’s out there waiting to be discovered.

More than 40 years ago, tinkering in his Vermont barn, a young Jake Burton Carpenter designed a prototype for what eventually would become a world-famous company: Burton Snowboards, which remains rooted in the Green Mountain State today [“Up Close,” p. 25]. In his own way, Carpenter was following in the footsteps of generations of Vermonters who transformed discarded skis and scraps of wood into their very own “jack jumpers,” iconic inventions whose story is told in this issue by a longtime fan [“The Joys of Jack Jumping,” p. 20]. I imagine that after learning how much fun can be had sliding down a snow-covered hill on one of these, some of you will be looking at your old skis with new eyes.

In our “Guided Winter Adventures” feature [p. 81], you can follow along on a Maine snowshoe trek that guide Kimberly Truskowski compares to “walking through black-and-white photography provided by Mother Nature.” And that’s just for starters. You’ll also learn what it’s like to saddle up for a snowy trail ride, let sled dogs pull you through field and forest, and hike to the summit of Mount Washington, with its views of a beautiful arctic world.

Inspiration may also spring from learning about people who believed in and nurtured their talent. For instance, in “A World of Pancakes” [p. 44], you’ll likely be enticed by the delectable scallion-pancake breakfast sandwiches created by a trio of Boston siblings: Andrew, Irene, and Margaret Li. What began as a food truck near Fenway Park grew into their restaurant, Mei Mei, where these pancakes take the cake.

“The New Makers” [p. 92] puts a spotlight on up-and-coming artisans whose creative work will be sought after for years to come. Our region has long been known for the enduring artistry of its craftspeople, and the men and women you will meet in these pages are proof that this heritage is in good (and very skilled) hands.

Chances are, you haven’t heard of tiny Olin College [“Big Plan on Campus,” 120]. But this Massachusetts school’s innovative approach to teaching engineering is attracting the attention of educators from around the world, who want to understand why Olin’s students are so successful—and, yes, inspired.

Each of these stories is unique, yet they all feature people who thrive on creativity and discovery, and who are making a life that matters to them. A fine way to spend a few hours is to read about

Mel Allen

FREE Shipping

Fun Stuff for Winter

Currier and Ives “Snow Opal”* Pendants

These gems are pure magic, old New England winter scenes. Here captured in a field of white are frozen ponds and streams, snow hills and valleys, and snow-covered open fields. They are winterwhite-perfect, over the river and through the woods, trees in black lace silhouetted against a winter-gray sky. Think ice-covered grasses, Queen Anne’s Lace, black crows on the wing, twilight winter’s sleep, and stars in the sky.

*“Snow opal” is its name. The gem material is a natural agatized quartz. “Snow Opal”* Pendants.................$195.00 to $495.00

18" sterling silver chain Visit us on-line, make your selection, give us a call

American Flyer™ Sled

Steel on snow. Trees whizzing by.

The fastest kid in the neighborhood.

American Flyer™ Sled Pin

Sterling silver ......X2931..........$135.00

14K yellow gold ....X1175........$1,250.00

New England Snowflake Bracelet

Remember going to sleep on the night of a Nor’easter and waking to a pure white world?

It snowed all night. Listening to the radio, waiting for your town. Breakfast and out the door. A free day. Sound of chains and spinning tires. Snowplows piling high. Sledding on snow-packed streets. Toboggans on the hills. Forts with tunnels. Snowballs. Snowmen. Icicles dripping in the afternoon sun. Pink cheeks, red nose, wet mittens, damp hair, hand-knitted wool hats drying on the radiator. The smell. The warmth of the kitchen. It was a good day.

Six real snowflakes copied here. Bracelet shown actual size. One for each New England state and its snow city.

Sterling silver snowflakes and bracelet. For everyone who loves a beautiful snow storm.

New England Snowflake Bracelet

Sterling Silver ..........X2871................$385.00

14K yellow gold ......X2937............$3,650.00

Maine Snowflake Earrings

Maine Snowflake Pendant 18"chain X2955.....$90.00

A Cave of One’s Own

Snugging yourself deep into a snowbank takes cozy to a new place— or a very old one.

he day after Christmas, strolling around my mother’s neighborhood in Ferrisburgh, Vermont, I happened upon two young boys attacking a snowbank with ski poles. “We’re going to put dynamite in these holes so that we can make a bigger hole,” one boy told me. “We’re going to crawl in and stay there until summer,” the other added. They returned to their work, mittened hands carefully placing invisible sticks of TNT, and I continued on my way, a long-forgotten gladness beating in my heart.

When I was a boy, no season delighted me like winter; there was no pastime better than honeycombing backyard drifts and driveway plow piles with curving tunnels, domed chambers, and secret alcoves. I felt New England’s harshest season as an invitation to immerse myself in the elements—body, mind, spirit. I felt wealthy, rich with what Thoreau called “Contact!”

And now, in my 30s? Those boys with their imagined explosives were cultivating a tactile relationship with winter itself, whereas I had spent too many hours watching Seinfeld reruns.

Thus I decided: I’d allow my inner child to snug down right here, inside the outdoors. My mom’s response was predictable, as she nodded to the pyramidal snowbank at the end of her cul-de-sac: “Keep your nose free, in case of collapse.” I explained that the warmth of a properly constructed snow cave (where body heat and a candle’s tiny blaze can raise the temperature a whopping 50 degrees or more!) was enjoyed only by the fully buried. She shook her head. “Bring an air horn. I can rescue you with a shovel.”

Ah yes, shovel —that noun that when gripped becomes verb. I retrieved a metal one from the garage, and as I labored on hands and knees, belly and back, the so-called real world slipped away. No cellphones rang, no emails popped up, no money came or went from the wallet.

By dusk, my snow cave, if not bear-worthy, was at least roomy enough to admit a foam pad, a mummy bag, and, of course, a trio of tea candles, each perched atop its own chunky pedestal of ice. Thirteen degrees. Sharp wind from the northwest. Stars strewn across immense darkness. I squirmed through my entry tunnel, into a darker darkness.

Cramped has a nice ring to it, but snug sounds better. Measuring seven feet long, four feet high, and three feet wide, the cave had to be met on its own spatial terms. After thrashing about in the mute blackness, struggling to un-wedgie my long johns and straighten my discombobulated bedding, I finally got comfy—and not merely comfy-for-an-entombment comfy, but genuinely at ease, relaxed. That exhausted peace, that burrower’s bliss. The tingly happiness of keeping a special secret, a secret nobody knows save for one wee human being, zipped the length of my slightly crooked spine. Held by the cave, I was that secret, safely sequestered.

With a flick of the lighter, I touched each candle to life. The flames, despite the night’s rushing wind, did not waver. The wind, as far as I was concerned, had ceased to exist. Nothing existed but the glistening walls, the crystal ceiling, the shadows cast by my arm as I raised an airplane bottle of single malt (wouldn’t you bring one along?) for a nightcap nip. Nothing but the easy rhythm of my own breathing, the toastiness of my toes. Nothing but the thought that 10 or so hours hence I would be birthed from the snowbank into bright sunshine and blue sky. And that my mother would have coffee going. And that later I would find those TNT boys, ask if they needed help.

Finally, with a follow-up airplane bottle polished off and my candles almost spent, this spell of contentment came apart at the edge of dreams. The magician of sleep cast a new spell over me— and just like that, I was falling as a snowflake, landing as snow upon snow upon snow.

Beyond the Homestead

As his sons grow into young men, the author ponders a future without them nearby.

PHOTOGRAPH BY PENNY HEWITT

moved out of my parents’ house when I was 16. It was the summer of 1987, and three friends had rented a small apartment on Martha’s Vineyard, where they’d secured carpentry jobs. While all the beds in the apartment were taken, for a nominal fee I was welcome to the couch. I had little carpentry experience, but the Vineyard was really taking off, and work was plentiful. I was six months removed from leaving high school, and staying at my parents’ was wearing thin. So I packed up the VW Beetle I’d bought for $75—the one that ran off a gas can situated in the back seat—and went.

I got a job installing asphalt roofing shingles for a man named Ken. He paid me well and treated me horribly. Despite smoking copious amounts of marijuana, Ken had a volatile temper, and he yelled a lot. He yelled when the soles of my boots left marks on the hot shingles, so on sunny days I worked in my socks. He yelled when I asked him to bring me a bundle of shingles (I was on the roof, and he was on the ground, about to head up the ladder emptyhanded), so I learned to never ask him to bring me anything. Often I’d overhear him yelling at someone else, which was almost as stressful as having him yell at me.

So I found another job, this time working for a man named Lee. A believer in the medicinal powers of garlic, Lee ate whole cloves throughout the day, accompanied by large chunks of cheddar cheese, which presumably improved the palatability while doing little to mitigate the odor.

“Do you have chainsaw experience?” Lee asked me.

I did not. “Yes,” I said. “Lots.”

So I went to work cutting trees for Lee, and it’s barely short of a miracle that I did not maim myself, or worse. Still, I was making more than what Ken had paid me, and Lee did not yell; back then, these compensations seemed worth the risk of injury.

I never thought much about the impact that my leaving home had on my parents. They must have worried, or at the very least been skeptical: I was so, so young, after all. It’s clear to me

Ben Hewitt with sons Fin, center, and Rye. The boys have grown up on a swath of rural Vermont land that’s been school, work, and home to them.

now that I wasn’t ready to be out on my own, and they too must have seen this. But in their wisdom, they didn’t try to stop me. They wished me well, waved good-bye, and watched me sputter out of their driveway in my old Beetle, the rear windows rolled down to vent the fumes from my makeshift gas tank.

My older son, Fin, is now almost exactly the age I was when I left for Martha’s Vineyard, and because of this, and because he just got his driver’s license and talks of buying a car and the places he’ll go, and because I’m a sentimental old fool, I think often about my sons’ impending departures. It’s the oldest cliché in the book to talk about how fast children grow up, but like most clichés, this one exists because it is true. It is almost unfathomable to me that my sons will soon be gone. I suppose it’s like this for every parent, though I also wonder if my family’s lifestyle choices—to work together on this homestead, to educate our children largely at home—have made me even more vulnerable to their leaving.

For nearly 17 years, I’ve spent the majority of my waking hours in the company of one or both of my children. On most of the days over all those years, we’ve eaten three meals together. We’ve built houses and barns (and lived in both). We’ve pulled near-dead calves from their mothers, thrown thousands of hay bales, split and stacked countless cords of firewood. We’ve buried a beloved dog. Like every family, we’ve bickered and fought, even yelled at one another with a volume and vigor to match that of my old boss. Of course, every family has their version of trials and triumphs, of rituals that make their lives meaningful, and while it’s true that some of my family’s rituals are no longer typical in 21st-century America, that doesn’t make us special. But these are my sons; this is my sense of hopefulness

and loss and pride and uncertainty. Which is to say, it feels special to me.

It’s possible that one or both of my boys won’t choose to go. We have a beautiful piece of land, after all, and more than enough to share should they decide to stick around. I will be happy if they do so, just as I will be happy if they decide to leave and make their lives elsewhere. The latter scenario may come with more sadness, more missing, more wanting to know the small particulars of their lives that will be shielded from me by distance. All of that, yes. But I will be no less happy for them.

I frequently hear from parents who aspire to some version of our life on the homestead, and a big part of what they desire is the chance not just to raise their children but to be with their children. To grow and age alongside them, learning at least as much as they teach, and probably more. Without a doubt,

this same desire has played a major role in many of my family’s decisions to live how and where we do, and despite the many challenges and worries over the years, I regret none of it. More than anything, I hope that through this life, we have instilled in our sons a degree of resourcefulness and self-knowing that will serve them no matter where they land. Still, I realize that it’s not entirely up to us, that our sons are their own people, with their own thoughts and feelings and ideas. They will make their own choices. Hopefully, some of these choices will be good. Certainly, some will not be. And so this is what I say to the parents who contact me: You should do what your heart calls you to do, whether it is for yourself, for your children, or for both. But don’t pretend it’s a guarantee of anything.

I didn’t stay on Martha’s Vineyard forever, obviousl y, and for a few years I moved in and out of my parents’

house, sometimes living with friends, sometime house-sitting for neighbors, always trying to figure out how my life should unfold. My parents (bless them) were supportive but never manipulative; they never pressured me to follow a different path, even when the one I did follow was fraught with error and foolishness. They seemed to understand that I needed to make my own mistakes, and then find my own solutions to those mistakes. That’s a hard thing for a parent to know; it’s an even harder thing to allow to happen.

By the time you read this, my boys will both have celebrated another birthday. They’ll be 14 and 17, respectively, one step closer to the life that awaits them beyond this homestead. And while it must be obvious by now that a big part of me is already grieving their departure, another part, equally big, can’t wait to see where their next steps take them.

WRITERS ON A NEW ENGLAND STAGE

STEVEN PINKER

Wed., January 30 • 7pm • Historic Theater

If you think the world is coming to an end, think again: people are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ideal of using reason and science.

Don’t miss hearing from cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker about his instant NY Times bestseller just out in paperback—and Bill Gates’s “new favorite book of all time.”

PRESENTING SPONSORS:

MEDIA PARTNER:

WRITERS ON A NEW ENGLAND STAGE IS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN: SERIES SPONSOR: Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service

For three generations, the builders, blacksmiths and cra smen at Country Carpenters have put their hands and hearts into designing and building the nest New England Style buildings available. Hand-selected materials, hand-forged hardware, hand-built and hand- nished by real people. You feel the di erence in your heart.

First LIGHT

It doesn’t take long for first-timer Molly Tonino to get the hang of her homemade jack jumper (shown in close-up on the opposite page).

The Joys of Jack Jumping

A timeless Vermont tradition that returns anyone to childhood.

BY LEATH TONINO

find myself in the garage a few days before Christmas, searching cluttered corners for bits of scrap lumber and dusty Rossignols. My sister, Molly, an avid skier who typically logs at least two dozen Saturdays at Stowe each winter, gave birth to her first child last summer, and I’m thinking that a jack jumper—that’s right, a jack jumper—will be the perfect present for a time-crunched, cash-strapped mom. Where skiing is logistically intensive, jack jumping is quick and easy. Where skiing is pricey, jack jumping is free. Furthermore, a jack jumper for Molly is a jack jumper for Daisy, a gift from uncle to niece. As the saying goes: Get ’em while they’re young.

Jack jumping is without a doubt my favorite sport, and that’s because it’s more than a sport, more than exercise and technique and thrill; the satisfactions are athletic, sure, but historical too. In the pre-chairlift, pre-snowboard 1800s—an era of rolled rather than plowed roads, horse-drawn sleighs, and what must have felt like interminable gray months—Vermont farmers cobbled together snowsliding devices for their kids that used a barrel stave as a runner, and a wooden bench on a short post as a seat. Legend has it that loggers also used rudimentary jack jumpers to move efficiently through the woods while sawing. And though I have no evidence on this front, there’s certainly a family resemblance between jack jumping and the European sport called skibock. As with many great folkways, the origins of jack jumping are uncertain, and it is this uncertainty—this power of a history bigger and deeper than any individual person or place—that I consider so enlivening.

Nowadays, in barns and basement workshops across the state, enthusiasts like myself take the basic elements—a single ski, a platform upon which to rest the fanny—and construct funky, one-of-a-kind models. I’ve seen the gamut, from a toddler’s toy (the Junior) to a sculptor’s art project (the Smithsonian) to a welded steel frame with shock-absorbing springs (the Cadillac) to

PHOTOGRAPHS BY OLIVER PARINI

Unlike the slick, fancy, factory-produced gadgets we commonly rely on for fun in the 21st century, what I’m about to create will be candid, humble, pure.

a beery slap-together job (the Jalopy). Despite the variability in design, every jack jumper gives a respectful nod to the same shared heritage, the same New England of old. Or, putting it poetically, every jack jumper is a curve in the powdery run that this hobby has made, and continues to make, through seasons, terrain, home.

But honestly, I’m not musing on this highfalutin heritage as I search the cobwebbed hinterlands of the garage. Finally I locate the outdated, badly dinged, perfect-for-a-jack-jumper Rossignol that I stashed for safekeep ing way back when. Unlike the slick, fancy, factory-produced gadgets we commonly rely on for fun in the 21st century, what I’m about to create will be candid, humble, pure.

A few cuts, a few screws….

I grin. In an hour I’ll be carving the packed driveway, test-driving my sis ter’s surprise.

A week later, on a zero-degree after noon of thin clouds and glittery light, we drop Daisy at Grandma’s and head to Mount Philo in Charlotte. Twisting to the 968-foot summit, this state park’s snow-paved road was originally established in 1903 as a carriage track, and it has long been recognized as the meeting ground for Champlain Valley jack jumpers. For our purposes, a meadow flanking the parking lot will serve as today’s bunny slope.

“Think of it like a bike,” I say as Molly takes a seat, gripping the underside of her jack jumper’s bench with her hands and extending her legs straight out in the manner of a hamstring stretch. “You’re going to need some speed before things stabilize, you know?”

Her initial attempt is understandably timid, which means wobbly, which means one, two, three, four, five seconds and she’s flopped over onto her side.

Asks the smiling heap of yellow and blue Gore-Tex, “What should I do?”

“Nothing,” I reply. “It’s intuitive. Believe me, you’ll be ripping on your next try.”

My sister, so confident on alpine skis that she hucks herself off cliffs, has no idea how beginner-friendly jack jumping really is, no conception of the ribbony smoothness, the free-form delight, that’s about to rock her world. Sure enough, within 10 minutes the jack jumper appears glued to Molly’s snowpants, and within 30 minutes she’s arcing graceful turns, hooting and hollering.

We hike to the summit, rigs slung over our shoulders, and gaze at the main chain of the Green Mountains in the distance—peaks we’ve been skiing since childhood and that mostly forbid the use of jack jumpers (Jay Peak and Bolton Valley are the lone exceptions).

“I can’t believe I’ve lived in Vermont all my life and am only now getting into this,” Molly says.

The sun sinks orange in the west. A woodpecker drums in the forest below. I imagine the hardworking farmer who stole away from his chores to assemble a pair of jack jumpers—one for his young son, one for himself. I imagine him and his boy standing on this exact spot in 1903 or 1913 or 1923, enjoying the stillness that anticipates the rush.

“Maybe we can get Grandma to watch Daisy again tomorrow?”

There’s so much that contributes to jack jumping’s allure, far more than I could ever hope to articulate. Following a session at the workbench, fitting together bits of so-called trash to form an elegantly simple device, it’s the Yankee thrift and do-it-yourself ingenuity.

Author Leath Tonino and his sister, Molly, take a break from their jack jumping session at Mount Philo. (As it turns out, jack jumpers also double as handy resting spots.)

Following a two-mile cruise on Lincoln Gap, an unplowed pass in the serene heart of the Greens, it’s the engagement with wilderness, with a landscape that brooks no nonsense (roaring snow guns, $100 tickets, etc.). Sometimes, in the company of goofy friends, I’m convinced that the best thing about jack jumping is the way it returns us to childhood, to innocence, to play. And, of course, there’s the adrenalized glee, which is beyond fantastic.

But the tradition, the pay-itforward quality, the generational aspect—this is what strikes me as most notable on the day of Molly’s introduction. Driving to Grandma’s afterward, she can’t stop talking about how Daisy will learn quickly and go faster than the boys and love jack jumping from the get-go. Listening, I recall my own initiation into the cult. When I was 18, a friend’s father shared with me his jack jumper, along with a story about the mentor—a blacksmith with a shaggy beard—who had loaned him one a decade before. I learned to “jump” that day, and I also learned to revel in the awareness that this underthe-radar pastime persists in hollows and on hillsides all over Vermont— persists, it seems, as genes persist in a line of ancestry. I learned, in other words, that a historical awareness allows us to ride out of the past, into the future, and, simultaneously, back into the past.

At Grandma’s I bring Molly’s jack jumper inside, set it by the fire, and balance Daisy on the bench, holding her upright. Brown eyes instantly fill with tears. The frigid wood through thin pajamas is sudden, shocking, and she shrieks.

“Just give it time,” I say, swooping my niece up with one hand, dusting snow from her diaper-puffed backside with the other. “Just give it time.”

Already I’m planning next year’s Christmas present, shaping it in the dusty, cluttered garage of my mind.

Just Desserts

Take it from cold-weather expert Murray Hamlet: When the temperature drops, don’t skimp on fuel.

“Doughnut lovers love me for saying this,” says Hamlet, formerly of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine. “You need more calories in winter. You need to eat more fatty, slow-burning foods.”

But how easy is it for New Englanders to work off what they love to eat? Using data from Harvard Health Letter for a 185-pound person, we ran the numbers:

RUNNING A SNOWBLOWER

Calories burned per hour: 400

Food indulgence earned: Come in from the cold, shake the snow off your eyebrows, and settle into your comfiest recliner—you deserve a big mug of rich hot chocolate with a dollop of whipped cream.

CARRYING AND STACKING WOOD

Calories burned per hour: 444

Food indulgence earned: Is this chore included on

your “honey-do” list? It’ll earn you a big bar of fine dark chocolate and the appreciation of everyone who gets to settle next to the woodstove at your place.

SHOVELING SNOW

Calories burned per hour: 532

Food indulgence earned: OK, you probably drew the short straw. But push on through, knowing that you’re working up an appetite for a handful of chewy oatmeal raisin cookies, fresh from the oven—guilt-free.

SLEDDING OR ICE SKATING

Calories burned per hour: 622

Food indulgence earned: All you had to do was enjoy an hour of fun to burn off a hearty helping of French toast with maple syrup.

SNOWSHOEING

Calories burned per hour: 710

Food indulgence earned: Keep it up for five hours and you’ll work off the caloric equivalent of one pound. Of course, you’ll be absolutely ravenous....

—Adapted from “Our Not-So-Serious Guide to Winter,” January/February 2012

UNCOMMON SENSE

—John Krasinski (born October 20, 1979, in Boston, Massachusetts). Though he first broke through as a mild-mannered paper salesman on The Office, Krasinski has proved he can do action hero too, most recently in Amazon’s Jack Ryan. A former British Royal Navy commando helped the 6-foot-3 actor muscle up for that role—and also, presumably, for hoisting daughters Violet, 2, and Hazel, who turns 5 in February.

“There’s something about getting in shape that makes you feel better. It’s been a whole regime change for me, but it’s nice not to throw your back out every time you pick up your kids!”

Carving a Legacy

Jake Burton Carpenter might not have invented the snowboard, but a compelling case can be made that he created snowboarding. In 1977, not long after earning an economics degree from New York University, Carpenter moved to Londonderry, Vermont. By that time, he had already started tinkering around with a fun alternative to skiing. Like several other innovators at the time, he was inspired by the Snurfer, a kind of snow “skateboard” intended mainly for kids. He played with designs in his barn, where early snowboard prototypes were made with gear and materials often improvised from what was on hand (including, as the story goes, a scuba mask to be worn while applying polyurethane).

That same year Carpenter officially launched Burton Snowboards, which he soon relocated to Manchester, Vermont. He and his team of five employees likely composed the world’s first snowboard factory.

At that point, snowboarding was still a fringe activity, with only a few ski areas allowing it on their slopes. Carpenter dedicated himself to changing that. The former Snow Valley in Winhall, Vermont, became the first New England ski area to welcome snowboarders. Suicide Six and Stratton soon followed suit, then Jay Peak and Stowe.

As demand for snowboards began to build, Carpenter kept refining his design. In 1979, he introduced the Burton Backhill (pictured), the first board that could support custom graphics, offered two stance options, and had a front binding that could be adjusted without tools.

By 1982, Suicide Six was hosting the National Snowboarding Championship. Three years later the event moved to Stratton Mountain and was renamed the U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships. Snowboarding had officially gone mainstream.

Today, Burton is the largest snowboard brand in the world, and Carpenter and his wife, Donna, remain at the helm, dedicated ambassadors of the sport he created and the lifestyle it inspired. —Joe Bills

How the founder of Vermont’s Burton Snowboards helped shape a world-class sport.

Measuring 51 inches long and weighing just under six pounds, the 1979 Burton Backhill was outfitted with twin aluminum alloy fins and included a removable “power leash.”

The Secret to Successful Aging:

Want

to know the secret to successful aging? It’s not Botox, or kale, or even sudoku. You don’t have to buy it, be born with it, or borrow your life savings to get it.

In order to understand how to successfully age, it’s important to understand what is different about today’s older adults, compared with prior generations.

First, we are living much longer than prior generations – today, statistically, if you live to 65, you will live to 84, and if you make it to 84, you will live to 92. We are benefitting from the best medical care of any prior generation.

Second, there are many more retirees than ever before – we are on the cusp of what some people call a “silver tsunami.” Every day in the U.S.,

10,000 people turn 70 – and that will continue for the next 18 years. It is a phenomenon this country has never

is is retirement

experienced since its founding.

Third, the retirees of today have higher expectations of their lives –

Locally owned and managed, with a proud 30+ year history of excellence in sustainable retirement living, OceanView is just minutes from Portland. O ering an independent, active lifestyle on 80 beautifully wooded acres, you can enjoy maintenance-free living in a wide variety of cottages and apartments, with peace of mind for the future.

Locally owned and managed, with a proud 30+ year history of excellence in sustainable retirement living, OceanView is just minutes from Portland. O ering an independent, active lifestyle on 80 beautifully wooded acres, you can enjoy maintenance-free living in a wide variety of cottages and apartments, with peace of mind for the future.

Locally owned and managed, with a proud 30+ year history of excellence in sustainable retirement living, OceanView is just minutes from Portland. O ering an independent, active lifestyle on 80 beautifully wooded acres, you can enjoy maintenance-free living in a wide variety of cottages and apartments, with peace of mind for the future.

on 80 beautifully wooded acres, you can enjoy maintenance-free living in a wide variety of cottages and apartments, with peace of mind for the future.

Southgate is located in the historic town of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. A uniquely planned community, Southgate allows ready access to services, all under one roof. Enjoy a wealth of amenities, such as restaurant-style dining, indoor swimming, live theater, and candlepin bowling. Feel secure knowing there is a full continuum of care right on campus.

Locally owned and managed, with a proud 30+ year history of excellence in sustainable retirement living, OceanView is just minutes from Portland. O ering an independent, active lifestyle on 80 beautifully wooded acres, you can enjoy maintenance-free living in a wide variety of cottages and apartments, with peace of mind for the future. SouthgateAtShrewsbury.com

A

A

A 21st century retirement community TM 20 Blueberry Lane, Falmouth, Maine 04105

Maine 04105

207-781-4460 oceanviewrc.com

207-781-4460 oceanviewrc.com

207-781-4460

207-781-4460

All Photos Courtesy of RiverWoods Exeter

BY CATHLEEN TOOMEY

they are interested in embarking on third chapters, new phases of life, cultivating a new iteration of a career or a “side hustle” job. They are traveling more, and, thanks to modern medicine, are no longer slowed down by a new knee or a new hip – they recuperate and continue with their active lifestyle.

So, if our retirees are more active and generally healthier and are living longer than prior generations, why do all the birthday cards over age 40 foretell doom and gloom? Why do we not welcome aging? Certainly, it is better than the alternative, right?

We could blame society’s obsession with youth, but I think it comes down to fear. Many see and experience being older as an advent of losses: loss of physical vitality, energy, and friends, and in some cases, a loss of purpose. And certainly, aging does bring a host of what poet Donald Hall calls “a carnival of losses” – but isn’t there another way to look at this?

Two studies I have discovered present alternative views. Harvard University did a significant longitudinal study following a cohort of graduates over 75 years to discover the keys to happy and healthy aging. What are the indicators – health,

“Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.”

The Secret to Successful Aging

education, diet, career success, marital happiness, spiritual practice, money? Shockingly, the editors boiled it down to one sentence: “Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.”

Author Dan Buettner examined longevity globally and identified five areas — or “Blue Zones” — around

the world where the longest-living people were clustered. He identified key attributes these people shared, across vastly different cultures. One attribute they all shared (among others) was a strong sense of purpose; what the Japanese call ikigai — loosely translated as “a reason to

Former Bon Appetit editor, Pat Brown discovered that living at Thornton Oaks affords plenty of cultural opportunities. “If you’re looking for interesting things to do, you don’t have to look very far,” Pat says. “Activities at Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, museums, symphonies, professional plays, and world class restaurants too.”

One Focused

Quarry Hill offers it all: a gracious, maintenance-free home with easy one-floor living and priority access to the fullest spectrum of care.

Enjoy all

Camden, Maine and discover your best future.

The Secret to Successful Aging

The Retirement of a Lifetime

Apartment and cottage living at Piper Shores offers residents fully updated and affordable homes, with all the benefits of Maine’s first and only nonprofit lifecare retirement community. Located along the Southern Maine coastline, our active, engaged community combines worry-free independent living with priority access to higher levels of on-site care—all for a predictable monthly fee.

333-8711

Those seniors who have discovered their ikigai in this phase of their life – those adults who know they are not yet done giving back, sharing wisdom, learning — thrive as they age, despite what comes their way. When you are working or raising a family, it’s easy to fi nd your ikigai, your purpose. But when your family is grown, and your career is over, it doesn’t mean your life is over — now is the time to discover your next purpose.

It’s that simple. The secret to successful aging? Cultivate relationships with others and you’re your new purpose. The world is hungry for your knowledge, your gifts, your talent. You are not yet done.

Cathleen Toomey is Vice President of Marketing for The RiverWoods Group, the parent organization of three Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) in NH. Cathleen has more than 30 years in marketing, building consumer brands such as Timberland and Stonyfield Farm, and non-profits like Babson College, Bentley University and University of New Hampshire. A graduate of Fordham College (MA) and Fairfield University (BA) she started her career in advertising in New York City. She has directed the sales and marketing efforts for RiverWoods for the past 11 years, and is a past TEDx speaker on aging. She has delivered more than 25 educational programs across the country for financial and legal professionals on the topic of CCRCs. The RiverWoods Group is comprised of RiverWoods Exeter (CCRC), which opened in Exeter, NH, in 1994; Birch Hill (CCRC) in Manchester, NH, which, in 2016, became the first affiliate of The RiverWoods Group outside of three campuses in Exeter, NH; and the most recent TRWG community, RiverWoods Durham (CCRC), which is scheduled to open in Durham, NH, in late fall of 2019.

•

•

•

L I V I N G

PARED DOWN TO JUST THE ESSENTIALS, THIS NEW HAMPSHIRE ARTIST’S STUDIO-HOME IS ANYTHING BUT BASIC.

BY ANNIE GRAVES

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK FLEMING

There is something irresistible about the notion of downsizing. Squeezing out the extraneous. Focusing on the essential. Living an expanded life in a truncated space. Hence the exuberance of the tiny home movement—an arena where approval rises as square footage dwindles. Tables double as beds. Diminutive appliances are stars. It’s fun, it’s environmental, and it’s a teeny-tiny cottage industry.

The movement shows no signs of abating, either. These minuscule abodes can’t begin to house the volume of building, decorating, and downsizing materials devoted to the subject. Websites extol endless shapes and sizes, from mini apartments to gypsy wagons. But is this lifestyle suitable for only the very young, the very flexible, or those slender enough to shower in a broom closet? How small is too small? Can one truly live large in such surroundings?

To answer this, I consulted a tall man who’s rehabbed many houses and worn multiple creative hats.

Long before such things were commonplace, Dan Thibeault and his wife, Joanie, created a camper-size gourmet takeout store called 12 Pine, in Peterborough, New Hampshire. They grew it into a much larger business, sold it, and opened the Shop and Garden at Cross Road, a decor outpost that scrambled French antiques, midcentury modern, and beautiful trinkets—again, ahead of its time.

Peterborough, New Hampshire, artist Dan Thibeault at home with his grandchildren, Soren, Esben, and Iyla.

Above them is Thibeault’s Summer Meadow

The average home size in this country just keeps expanding: 2,422 square feet in 2016, up by almost 50 percent from the 1970s. Only 1 percent of today’s buyers opt to live in less than 1,000 square feet; less than 500 square feet is generally considered tiny. In the spirit of paring down, here’s a sketch of the tiny house movement.

1854: Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden, his tale of living in a 150-square-foot cabin in the woods.

1987: Tiny Tiny Houses by Lester R. Walker highlights miniatures ranging from icehouses to a build-your-own Thoreau hut.

1998: Sarah Susanka, an architect often credited with inspiring the shift to smaller homes, publishes The Not So Big House, which becomes a best-seller.

1999: After his tiny house on wheels wins “Most Innovative Design” in Natural Home Magazine’s House of the Year contest, Jay Shafer launches Tumbleweed Tiny House Co., the first U.S. company to sell mobile tiny houses.

2002: Shafer joins Shay Salomon, Nigel Valdez, and Gregory Paul Johnson in cofounding the Small House Society in Iowa City, Iowa.

2011: Vermont’s Yestermorrow Design/Build School adds tiny house building to its curriculum.

2014: The series Tiny House Hunters debuts on HGTV.

2015: The American Tiny House Association is formed, in part to help ensure that tiny houses are accepted as viable dwelling units in communities across the country.

Along the way, they renovated. “My God, every house we owned needed work!” he remembers. But after Joanie passed away in 2004, Dan sold their home in the country and bought 1,400 square feet of raw loft space at the Union Mill in West Peterborough, a building that was being rescued from near ruin and going green in the process. By the time he finished work on his second-story loft, complete with trellised deck, it was a space that home decor magazines were clamoring over. “I loved it up there,” he says simply. “It was fabulous.”

Meantime, he was painting— expressionist landscapes of the Monadnock Region, where he was born and raised—working out of a raw studio space he’d bought simultaneously in the same building. It featured a row of north-facing windows at street level, a brick-end wall, and high ceilings. “All I did was put in a utility sink, electricity, and track lighting,” he says. “I made it a work space.” At 550 square feet, it was generous.

Over time, expenses for the loft soared. “I was draining my savings, and I got a little panicky,” Dan says. “So I thought, I have this space downstairs. Why don’t I just fix it up and live in that?”

So he sold the loft in 2014 and set to work. “I had a pretty good idea of the layout. It almost spoke to me, how it should be arranged”—that is, simply. The miniature kitchen, with its apartment-sized stove and under-the-counter fridge, overlooks the dining table, which elbows the cozy living room.

Inventive touches are everywhere, and all materials—like low-VOC paints— are eco-friendly. Dan whitewashed the wood floors with thinned-down Old Fashioned Milk Paint, applying water-based poly to seal them. Overhead, sandblasted beams also got a coat of whitewash, so they wouldn’t dominate the small space. A bedroom alcove was fashioned out of three joined bookcases spotted at a local junk shop; they do double duty as room dividers and clothes closet. The wall treatment is Dan’s own faux-plaster experiment. “It’s really joint compound, thinned down with a gallon of paint, and put on with a roller so it looks like plaster. You don’t even have to sand or paint it.”

ABOVE : In the kitchen area, open shelves keep dining essentials within easy reach. Hanging in the corner is an antique scale given to Thibeault by his daughter, Sarah.

OPPOSITE : Among the furniture from the former (and much bigger) apartment that survived the downsizing is this rustic blue chest. It holds a collection of family photos and original art, including Thibeault’s self-portraits.

Sounds easy enough, but you also have to credit an artist’s instinct for beauty. It certainly helps when you’re transitioning from 1,400 square feet down to one-third of that, doing a deep edit on your belongings.

In choosing what to bring to the new space, Dan says, “I didn’t really give it a lot of thought.” He gestures around the room. “I love that blue chest, for example, so I knew I was going to bring it. I knew I needed a couch, so I brought one down from the loft.” The chandelier over the dining room table is a link to the old Cross

Lots of white—which shows up everywhere from walls and curtains to slipcovers and furniture— helps make Thibeault’s home feel bigger than its 550 square feet.

Road days. The massive mirror leaning against the wall is a Brimfield find. The wooden chair in the living room was snagged from a junk pile in Greenwich Village. Memories masquerading as furnishings.

It all fit, and with enough room left over for his daughter, Sarah, and her children—Esben, 10; Soren, 8; and Iyla, 5—who are frequent visitors. The studio seems to expand to contain their exuberance and the attendant piles of drawing paper, pens, and Legos.

“You know what?” Dan says. “The stuff I didn’t feel like getting rid of, I put into storage, and it’s still there.” And suddenly he looks at me intently. “The thing is, you don’t miss it. It’s painful in the moment, but then it’s ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ And I don’t really need anything else.”

A FEW TINY WEBSITES

LIVING BIG IN A TINY HOUSE New Zealand YouTube star Bryce Langston spotlights tiny homes around the world. livingbiginatinyhouse.com

TINY HOUSE BLOG

Kent Griswold, who also publishes the e-magazine Tiny House, shares insights and tips in his posts. tinyhouseblog.com

TINY HOUSE EXPEDITION

Documentary filmmakers Christian Parsons and Alexis Stephens roam North America in their little abode. tinyhouseexpedition.com

TINY HOUSE LISTINGS

Browse properties for rent or for sale in the U.S. and beyond. tinyhouselistings.com

SMALL HOUSE STYLE

This web magazine o ers a compendium of home resources, from builders to books. smallhousestyle.com

ZYL VARDOS

To see the imagination that builders are applying to tiny homes these days, check out these small wonders from Washington state. zylvardos.com

C AMARA S LATE P RODUCTS

abilities

AUTHENTIC COLOURS crafted by masters of 18th- and 19-century colour fidelity— fifth-generation paintmakers. The Old Village paint craftsmen create the authentic colours that simply cannot be matched by a mass production process or by guessing and mixing. Old Village Paints are of superb quality, using natural earth pigments from around the world, as well as the heartland of America.

Yankee likes to mosey around and see, out of editorial curiosity, what you can turn up when you go house hunting. We have no stake in the sale whatsoever and would decline it if offered.

An Unbeatable Address in Newport

Lay claim to a mansion of your own on a grand avenue that tycoons once called home.

s the founder of one of New England’s largest art galleries, Bill Vareika has a pretty good eye for diamonds in the rough. And “rough” exactly describes the Newport, Rhode Island, mansion called Snug Harbor when Bill and his wife, Alison, rented an apartment in it, back in 1987. That was the same year Bill opened William Vareika Fine Arts just a few blocks away on the same street, the city’s famed Bellevue Avenue.

In 1991, when the Vareikas’ landlord informed them that Snug Harbor was for sale, they faced a big decision. They had a relatively new business and a growing family: Their son, Christian, was 1, and Alison was pregnant with their daughter, Hope. “It was a hectic time,” Bill recalls, “and we didn’t have a lot of money. The house was aged and decrepit, but we loved it.” And so, they bought it.

“We just felt that it was worth it,” Alison says. “Some things are worth saving.”

Built in 1877 for Navy Admiral Charles H. Baldwin (who named it for Sailors’ Snug Harbor, the nation’s first home for retired seamen), the Queen Anne home is a bit older than many of its neighbor mansions, which include Rosecliff and the Elms. The many-gabled, pre–Gilded Age construction of brick, shingle, and clapboard has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1971.

FROM TOP : Snug Harbor, a 19th-century “summer cottage” designed by William Appleton Potter and Robert H. Robertson; the home’s grand staircase of oak and black walnut. OPPOSITE : The light-filled dining room.

The history of the place appealed to the Vareikas—which is no surprise, since it was a passion for preservation that drew Bill to Newport in the first place. While studying pre-law at Boston College, he took an art history class and learned about the artist John LaFarge, who had lived in Newport for a time. Bill’s interest in LaFarge led him to visit the city, and as fate would have it, he arrived just as a church decorated with LaFarge murals and windows was in danger of demolition. Bill volunteered to lead the legal crusade to save the church, which was ultimately successful years later.

After graduation, Bill moved to Newport and found work as a custodian and art installer at what is now the Newport Art Museum. He supplemented his income by combing yard sales and junk shops for “sleepers,” unrecognized or underappreciated artwork that he could resell to a dealer or collector. He proved to have a talent for the work, and his business grew. It was during this time that he met Alison at a local artist’s studio, where she was having her portrait painted; they were married five years later.

When the Vareikas became the owners of Snug Harbor, they began a decades-long restoration of the mansion that would span top to bottom. Well, almost: The third floor, which the Vareikas have used only for storage, remains unfinished. Big enough to hold four or five bedrooms, it’s an intriguing time capsule for now. The plaster on the walls likely dates back to when servants still lived there; later tenants, the Vareikas were told, punched the occasional hole in that plaster, believing there was money hidden in the walls.

Everything below that topmost floor has been artistically renovated and restored. All the first-floor marble and tile fireplaces are in fine working condition. A handsome oak and walnut staircase leads to the open-concept upper level of the two-story great hall. Originally, the great hall was greater still, as it extended to the third floor,

but previous owners closed that off with a beautiful paneled ceiling. “We always thought someday we might open it back up,” Bill says, “but we never got to it. We’ll leave that for the next owners.”

One major change was a utilitarian one. The original kitchen was in the basement—fine for an era in which staffers prepared meals but not for a modern family. So the Vareikas’ very first project was to turn a first-floor reading room into the current kitchen, which somehow manages to be contemporary and comfortable and still in harmony with the rest of the house.

Just as extensive as the renovations indoors were the ones outside. The backyard was dust and scrub brush when the Vareikas bought the house, but today it boasts a clay tennis court and a graceful swimming/reflecting pool. The gardens and lawns are set off with stonework so carefully fashioned to appear original that they were selected for a preservation award, until Bill explained to the judges that it wasn’t a restoration at all.

Now that the Vareikas’ children have grown and moved on to their own lives, Snug Harbor—with its five bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms— is simply more than the couple needs. And as they get older, they are also reminded by their knees that this is a house of many stairs. “It is time,” Alison says. “We’ve loved this house, but we are ready to move on.”

What they’ll be leaving behind, says real estate agent Kylie McCollough, is a truly rare Bellevue Avenue find. “A flat two-acre lot on [this street]— that’s incredible to begin with. And it has been so meticulously renovated and restored by Bill and Alison. So many of these properties have essentially become museums. This one is still a home, and it begs for a family to live here.” —Joe

Bills

Snug Harbor is listed at $4.99 million. Contact Kylie McCollough at Gustave White Sotheby’s International Realty at 949-244-1256 or visit gustavewhite.com.

If you love New England and have started to think about your next move, come visit us!

Masonicare at Chester Village offers a lifestyle that is truly carefree.

Here you can live surrounded by nature in the heart of the Connecticut River Valley, a stone’s throw from a cultural mecca of galleries, eateries and world class theatre.

“Chester is where Walden Pond meets Broadway.”

- Morley Safer

For more information, call 877-983-1077 or visit us at www.masonicare-chestervillage.org

PHOTO: ISTOCK Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK

A WORLD OF

Pancakes get a Chinese-American twist at Boston’s Mei Mei.

PANCAKES

Crepes, roti, latkes—almost every culture offers a variation on the humble pancake, proving that this comfort food is indeed universal. Here in New England, chefs are cooking up an international host of pancakes in styles both sweet and savory. On the following pages are six of our favorites—ranging from an addictive Japanese street-food classic to a fresh take on the Rhode Island johnnycake—which are guaranteed to bring a little extra sparkle to your skillet.

BY CHRISTINE QUINLAN

PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIAN SAMUELS | FOOD AND PROP STYLING BY CATRINE KELTY

EGG, CHEDDAR, AND GREENS SANDWICH ON SCALLION PANCAKES

¾ t easpoon kosher salt

1 c up hot water (boiled and allowed to cool f or about a minute)

2 t ablespoons canola or other neutral oil, divided, plus more for frying

MEI

MEI BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Owned by siblings Irene, Andrew, and Margaret Li ( mei mei means “little sister” in Chinese), this casual eatery near Fenway Park serves the Chinese-American mash-ups that the Lis ate as kids. Among their creative sandwiches is the Double Awesome: two fried eggs, cheddar cheese, and a pesto of local greens (we streamlined the recipe by substituting fresh greens and flavored mayo) served between scallion pancakes. Unlike most pancakes, these are made with dough instead of batter. But as Irene says, “The dough is easy to make, and once you get the hang of it, it’s dangerous—you’ll want to make them all the time!” The siblings will publish their first cookbook, Double Awesome Chinese Food, in February. meimeiboston.com

FOR THE PANCAKES

2 c ups all-purpose flour, plus more f or kneading

1 ⅓ c ups thinly sliced scallions, divided

FOR THE FILLING

4 l arge eggs, fried

T hinly sliced cheddar cheese

B aby spinach or kale

F lavored mayonnaise, such as pesto, S riracha, or Dijon (optional)

First, make the dough: Whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Using a wooden spoon, slowly stir in ¾ cup of the hot water until fully incorporated and the dough begins to form a ball (add a bit more water as needed).

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 3 to 5 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Then, make the pancakes: Cut the dough into four equal pieces. Take one piece to work with, and cover the rest with plastic wrap.

Roll the piece into a ball and flatten it slightly, then use a rolling pin to roll it out into a circle about 8 inches in diameter. Use your fingers to brush oil lightly over the surface, then sprinkle with ⅓ cup scallions, pressing them gently to make them adhere. Use your palm to roll the circle up from the bottom into a long cylinder. Grab one end and roll it into a snail-like spiral toward the other end, then tuck the end underneath. Flatten slightly with your hand and place back under plastic wrap to rest. Repeat with the other pieces of dough.

Return to the first piece of dough and use a rolling pin to roll it out into a flat pancake that measures approximately 6 inches wide. Repeat with the other pieces of dough.

Heat a thin layer of oil in two skillets over medium-high heat until shimmering. Carefully slide a pancake into each pan and cook, covered, for 1 minute. Flip and cook, covered, for another minute. Remove lid and fry on both sides until golden brown and crispy, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining pancakes.

Use the scallion pancakes to make two sandwiches with the fried eggs, cheddar cheese, a handful of greens, and a dollop of mayonnaise in each. Yields 2 sandwiches.

JOHNNYCAKES WITH CRANBERRY-MAPLE SYRUP THE COMMONS LUNCH

LITTLE COMPTON, RHODE ISLAND

Though everyone can agree that Rhode Island’s iconic cornmeal pancakes taste best when made with stone-ground native whitecap flint corn, the debate over whether to serve them thin (East Bay–style) or thick (West Bay–style) rages on. Count George Crowther, who has owned the Commons Lunch in Little Compton for more than 50 years, fully on the thin side. And his customers approve: Over the course of a busy summer week, they gobble up hundreds of orders of johnnycakes. “We go through as much as 150 pounds of cornmeal from Kenyon’s in West Kingston,” he says. Crowther sometimes cooks his johnnycakes in bacon fat for an extra boost of flavor, but butter will do just fine.

NOTE: Kenyon’s and Gray’s gristmills sell stone-ground white cornmeal online: kenyonsgristmill.com; graysgristmill.com

FOR THE JOHNNYCAKES

2 c ups white cornmeal

2 te aspoons granulated sugar

1 t easpoon kosher salt

3 c ups milk

2 t ablespoons vegetable oil

B utter for frying

FOR THE SYRUP

1 ½ c ups pure maple syrup

1 ¾ c ups cranberries (fresh or frozen)

Heat oven to 175°. Combine all johnnycake ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to thoroughly combine. Let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat two large nonstick skillets over medium heat.

Whisk batter again (the trick to thin johnnycakes is to keep stirring the batter—otherwise, the cornmeal tends to settle out).

Grease the skillets with butter. Ladle a scant ½ cup of batter into each pan, swirl to coat the bottom, and cook until the edges turn lacy and brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown, about 1 more minute. Transfer to a warm oven as you cook the remaining batter, adding more butter to the pan as needed.

When all the pancakes are in the oven, combine the maple syrup and cranberries in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until cranberries pop, about 3 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving atop pancakes. Yields about 16 pancakes.

BEET AND MASA PANCAKES WITH GOAT CHEESE, HERBS, AND HONEY MOXY PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Matt Louis, chef-owner of Moxy and the Franklin Oyster House in Portsmouth’s historic downtown, is known for a wide-ranging menu of tapas made with local ingredients. Case in point: a fresh take on cecina, savory pancakes that are a popular appetizer in Italy. “These pancakes are traditionally made with chickpea flour, but we make them with masa flour and local root vegetables,” he says. Louis often uses shredded carrots, parsnips, or golden beets in the batter, but we like the rosy hues and sweet-earthy flavor imparted by roasted red beets. And where Louis serves his pancakes with toppings ranging from baba ganoush to tomato jam, our version makes humble goat cheese the star. moxyrestaurant.com

NOTE: Masa harina, also known as masa flour, is commonly used for tortillas and can be found in most grocery stores in the international foods aisle.

2 c ups masa harina (instant corn flour)

3 c ups plus ¼ cup water

¼ c up extra-virgin olive oil, plus more f or cooking

1 t easpoon kosher salt

¼ t easpoon freshly ground black pepper

2 medium roasted beets

4 ounces goat cheese

½ c up chopped fresh parsley leaves

½ c up mixed chopped fresh herbs, such as c hives, basil, tarragon, and chervil

½ c up thinly sliced radishes

¼ c up toasted pumpkin seeds

¼ c up honey

In a blender, combine the masa harina, 3 cups water, ¼ cup olive oil, salt, and pepper and mix until smooth. Add beets and blend until the batter is smooth and pink. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes to thicken. The batter should be thick but spreadable, like pudding. If it’s too thick, add the extra ¼ cup water, a bit at a time.

Heat oven to 175°. On the stovetop, set two large nonstick skillets over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Add about ½ cup of the batter and spread to form a 6-to-7-inch circle. Cook until set on top and golden brown on the bottom, about 4 minutes, then flip and cook the other side, 3 to 4 more minutes. Remove from skillet and keep warm in the oven while you make the rest of the pancakes.

To serve, divide the goat cheese, herbs, radish slices, and pumpkin seeds among the pancakes, sprinkling the fillings down the center, then drizzle with honey. Fold the sides in like a crepe and serve warm or at room temperature. Yields 8 pancakes.

SOCCA WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND ROSEMARY

HUNT HILL FARM

NEW MILFORD, CONNECTICUT

Nestled in the Litchfield Hills, the nonprofit Hunt Hill Farm is a community hub whose offerings range from concerts and farm tours to foraging excursions and cooking seminars (Jacques Pépin and Martha Stewart have taught here). Culinary director and chef Mary Kravec curates the farm’s globally inspired cooking classes, and one of her favorite dishes is the Provençal classic socca, a savory chickpea pancake usually made in a wood oven. “It’s an easy, delicious way to start a meal and the perfect accompaniment to soups and stews,” she says. hunthillfarm.org

1 c up chickpea flour

1 t easpoon kosher salt, divided

1 t easpoon freshly ground black pepper

1 c up lukewarm water

6 t ablespoons olive oil, divided

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

½ c up diced butternut squash

½ c up diced cremini mushrooms

1 l arge clove garlic, minced

2 t easpoons chopped fresh rosemary

C rème fraîche mixed with lemon zest and minced parsley, for garnish

Put a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or nonstick pizza pan in the oven and heat to 450°.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, kosher salt, and black pepper. Slowly add the water, whisking to eliminate lumps. Stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Cover the batter, which should have the approximate consistency of heavy cream, and let sit for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, set another skillet on the stovetop over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion, butternut squash, and cremini mushrooms and cook, stirring, until the squash is just tender, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and rosemary and cook until the squash is fully tender, 2 minutes more.

Remove the skillet from the oven and pour the remaining olive oil into it; swirl to coat. Gently fold the vegetables into the batter and quickly add to the pan. Bake until the pancake is set and the edges are brown, 10 to 15 minutes. For better browning on top, set under a broiler for a minute or two. Serve with a dollop of the herbed crème fraîche. Yields 1 large pancake or 4–6 appetizer servings.

OKONOMIYAKI

MAMI

PORTLAND, MAINE

Two years into their courtship, Austin Miller and Hana Tamaki bought a food truck, named it Mami, and began dishing up Japanese street food. It wasn’t a typical step toward marriage, but that’s where it led—and today they’re running a Mami restaurant in the Old Port as well as keeping up with their two kids.

Austin still remembers the first time Hana made him okonomiyaki, a savory pancake with shredded cabbage, pork belly, scallions, shimmery bonito flakes, and tangy-creamy sauces. “It was one of the greatest things I had ever tasted,” he says. “The texture and flavors were eye-openers.” A few ingredients may require a trip to an Asian supermarket or a bit of online shopping: the fish-based bouillon hondashi, for instance, and the sweet-sour okonomi

sauce. But once you have the ingredients in your pantry, you’ll want to make this dish again and again. mamifoodtruck.com

8 s trips bacon, uncooked

2 c ups water

2 t ablespoons hondashi

1 ¼ c ups all-purpose flour

3 l arge eggs

Vegetable oil, for frying

1 c up shredded Napa cabbage

Bonito flakes

Okonomi sauce

Japanese mayonnaise, such as Kewpie brand

S liced scallions

Pickled ginger

Preheat oven to 375° and set a rack to the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

and arrange the bacon strips on it. Bake until the bacon is browned but not fully crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain, then break into bite-size pieces. Reduce oven temperature to 175°. In a medium bowl, combine the water and hondashi and mix well. Add the flour and whisk until the batter is smooth. Whisk in the eggs until just incorporated (do not overmix).

Set two large nonstick skillets over mediumhigh heat and drizzle with oil. Stir the shredded cabbage into the batter. Once the oil is hot, add ¼ of the batter to each skillet and cook until the bottom of each pancake is golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook the other side, about 2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in the oven while you cook the remaining pancakes.

To serve, top each pancake with bacon and a sprinkle of bonito flakes. Drizzle with okonomi sauce and mayonnaise, and sprinkle with sliced scallions and pickled ginger. Yields 4 pancakes.

APPLE CIDER PANCAKES WITH WALNUT COMPOTE

THE INN AT SHELBURNE FARMS

SHELBURNE, VERMONT

A 1,400-acre National Historic Landmark situated on Lake Champlain, Shelburne Farms encompasses a working farm and nonprofit education center, a cheese-making operation, and a seasonal inn whose highly regarded restaurant showcases many ingredients grown right here. Buttermilk pancakes are a staple on the restaurant’s breakfast menu, but chef Jim McCarthy likes to experiment with other types of pancakes as well, including these rich apple cider pancakes served with a sweet-crunchy walnut compote. “These pancakes are such a great opportunity to use the amazing maple syrup and apple cider that are produced locally,” McCarthy says. shelburnefarms.org

FOR THE COMPOTE

4 c ups apple cider

½ c up maple syrup

1 c up walnut pieces, toasted

½ c up dried currants

½ t easpoon ground cinnamon

¼ t easpoon ground cardamom

FOR THE PANCAKES

3 ½ c ups all-purpose flour

½ c up firmly packed light brown sugar

2 t ablespoons baking powder

1 t easpoon kosher salt

1 t easpoon ground cinnamon

2 l arge eggs

2 ½ c ups apple cider

3 t ablespoons salted butter, melted, plus more for cooking

3 l arge red-skinned apples, cored and cut into ¼-inch-thick slices

First, make the compote: In a small saucepan, boil the cider and syrup until only about ¼ of the liquid remains, 20 to 30 minutes (you can begin making pancakes during this time). Turn off the heat and stir in remaining ingredients. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 175°. Next, make the pancakes: Stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and cider. Pour the wet mix into the dry with 3 tablespoons melted butter, and stir gently with a rubber spatula. Ingredients should be just combined (batter should be a bit lumpy).

Heat a little butter on a griddle or two nonstick pans over medium-low heat. Add a scant ⅓ cup of batter for each pancake, and cook until the pancakes are set at the edges and bubbling on top, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook until the batter is set, about 1 minute. Move the finished cakes to the oven to keep warm. When all the pancakes are cooked, put about 1 tablespoon of butter into each pan, set them over medium-high heat, and divide the apple slices between them. Sauté the apples until tender and golden brown at the edges, about 6 minutes. Serve pancakes topped with some apples and compote. Yields 24 pancakes (about 6 servings).

’S DREAM

New England Kitchen

No matter whether you live by the seacoast or in the mountains, in the larger cities or on a farm in the rural valleys, bringing a bit of New England into your dream kitchen is easily achieved.

You know about Yankee ingenuity. Originality. Durability. These are the hallmarks of New England workmanship. From the cabinetmaker in Maine to the potter firing ceramic dishware in the heart of the White Mountains, from flooring extracted from a slate quarry in Vermont to a paint color reflective of a historic Colonial

village—when you start with products inspired by our six-state region, New England style and sensibility are naturally infused into your home.

Budgets, square footage, and visions of the ultimate design will always vary. But in the end, a warm and inviting space, timeless and durable, that fuses function and beauty is the basic foundation of every dream kitchen. It’s a reflection of you, a comfortable place for guests and family to gather—let your style and connection to New England shine through.

TEXAN ELECTRIC BUILT-IN GRILL

Grilling your favorite food has never been easier or safer, as the Kenyon Texan Electric Grill is fl ameless and smokeless. Cooking grate temperatures exceed 550˚F. Achieve the results you want for any kind of food, from seared steaks to tender grilled vegetables. Proudly handcrafted in Connecticut.

WWW.COOKWITHKENYON.COM • 860.664.4906

SANDWICH LANTERN

Add a beautiful Sandwich Lantern chandelier to your New England kitchen! Shown is our C803 10-arm chandelier in a black finish (smaller sizes for this model available: 6-arm and 8-arm). All of our chandeliers are handmade on location using solid brass, available in three finishes (black, hand-rubbed, and oil-rubbed) and in many shapes and styles. Add a timeless accent to any kitchen or dining room.

WWW.SANDWICHLANTERN.COM • 888-741-0714

CAMARA SLATE

Camara Slate Mottled Green and Purple countertop with an eased edge and sink cutout.

WWW.CAMARASLATE.COM • 802-265-3200

OLD VILLAGE PAINTS

Authentic colors crafted by fifth-generation paintmakers who are masters of 18th-and 19th-century color fidelity. The Old Village paint craftsmen create the authentic colors that simply cannot be matched by a mass-production process or by guessing and mixing. Old Village Paints are of superb quality, using natural earth pigments from the heartland of America.

STONEWALL KITCHEN

Malted flour is the secret ingredient that not only makes our Farmhouse Pancake & Wa e Mix light and flu y, it also creates a rich vanilla aroma and fl avor that’s simply delicious. Try topping your pancakes or wa es with our Wild Maine Blueberry Jam—bursting with tiny, hand-raked Maine blueberries—and your day will be complete!

WWW.STONEWALLKITCHEN.COM • 800-826-1752

Oyster Stew

Looking beyond the garden (and out to sea) for fresh, local fare.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY KRISSY O’SHEA

ittle snow flurries began in the wee hours and carried on through the day, stopping and starting, turning the evening’s damp cold into something sharper and cheek-numbing. I made my way through a list of errands, picking up supplies for dinner and pots of paper-whites for the windowsills.

Things move more slowly here at Cottage Farm in winter, a welcome change after the hectic pace of the holidays. There’s a different rhythm, one that’s measured in trips out back to shovel the doorstep and in logs being added to the fire. With the gardens put to bed for the winter, we’re also eating differently: pulling more root vegetables from the cellar and adding local seafood.

Oysters—which are farmed in abundance all along the New England coast, with new varieties coming to market every year—are one of my favorites, and they’re at their best just now, firm and sweet from the icy waters. These are good days for hot bowls of stew, and oyster stew has a long history here. It’s also very easy to make, even if you’ve never shucked an oyster and have no intention of ever doing so. You can have your local fishmonger do that job for you—just be sure to request that the brine be reserved.

OYSTER STEW

TOTAL TIME : 50 MINUTES

HANDS- ON TIME : 30 MINUTES

3 t ablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium white onion, minced

4 stalks celery, sliced lengthwise and cut very thinly crosswise

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes

3 small Red Bliss potatoes, skins left on, cut into ½-inch cubes

2 ½ cups water

2 4 large oysters, shucked, with brine reserved

3 small sprigs tarragon, plus more for garnish

2 cups whole milk

½ cup heavy cream

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Set a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add butter and cook until bubbling. Add onion, celery, and salt. Cook, stirring, until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add potatoes, stir to coat, then cook 2 minutes. Add

the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle boil and cook until potatoes are soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the oyster brine and tarragon, and simmer 3 minutes. Add the milk and cream and heat until very gently simmering—don’t let the milk boil. Add the oysters and poach until they are firm and ruffled at the edges, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes, then remove tarragon sprigs, add pepper and salt to taste, and serve immediately with a few fresh tarragon leaves as garnish. Yields 4 servings as a main course or 6 as a starter.

Yankee contributing editor Krissy O’Shea shares stories, recipes, and home style tips at cottagefarmblog.com.

In the Kitchen with Jacques Pépin

A glimpse behind the scenes of Weekends with Yankee’s third season, debuting this spring.

ometimes TV guests need a bit of coaxing before they can perform the very unnatural act of acting natural before a camera. As the host, you walk onto the set and meet their wide-eyed, deer-in-theheadlights stare, and you know your job is to draw them out and make that camera seem like just another friendly face.

Then there are TV guests like Jacques Pépin, who greets you like a racehorse at the gate. Here is the man who won an Emmy cooking alongside Julia Child, who out-wisecracked Letterman on his own show (while preparing a lovely salmon terrine). With guests like this, the trick is to simply keep up.

From the moment the Weekends with crew arrived at Pépin’s home studio in Westport, Connecticut, and set up the cameras, he was off like a shot, racing around his property in search of mushrooms, taking names on the boules court, and whipping up two recipes using fresh mussels from Bangs Island in Casco Bay. We began with roasted mussels in the style of escargots, with lots of butter and garlic, then used the cooking liquid to make a creamy soup called billi bi.

He slowed down only at the very end of our visit, when we sat down to eat. There, on the table, was a scrapbook of sorts, a hand-illustrated collection of menus (among his many talents, Pépin is an accomplished artist) that form a vibrant record of meals with friends and family that he’s been keeping for the past 50 years; the collection now

JACQUES PÉPIN’S MUSSELS GRATINÉE

Amy Traverso is Yankee’s senior food editor and cohost of our TV show, Weekends with Yankee (weekendswithyankee.com).

spans 12 volumes. On each page is an illustrated menu, usually written in French, from events such as last New Year’s Eve or his daughter’s 50th birthday or a “Welcome Home to Spring” feast. Guests sign their names or write a thank-you or an inside joke. When the wine is especially good, he pastes in the label too. And on this day, he pulled out a pen, turned to a fresh page, and wrote: August 11, ’18 / Pour Amy / Moules au Gratin / Billi Bi / Cheers!

I was in the book! Now I was the one feeling shaky, but with my steadiest hand I turned to the facing page and wrote: Dear Jacques, Thank you for one of the most memorable meals of my life! Amy.

MOULES AU GRATIN (MUSSELS GRATINÉE)

A dish that couldn’t be easier to make, this seafood classic will find its way into

your regular repertoire either as a party starter or, with the addition of salad and a baguette, a weeknight meal.

1½ pounds fresh mussels in their shells (about 36)

1 cup white wine

1 slice white bread, processed to make ¾ cup bread crumbs

2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup loosely packed parsley

2 cloves garlic, peeled

18 hazelnuts

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place the mussels and wine into a large Dutch oven, cover, and bring to a boil. Cook until the mussels open, about 2 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then

crumbs with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Set aside. Place the parsley, garlic, and hazelnuts in a food processor and process to a fine mixture. Add the butter, the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, salt, and pepper and process until smooth. Top each mussel with about 1 teaspoon of butter mixture and sprinkle the bread crumbs on top. Place the mussels about 5 inches below a broiler on high heat and broil, watching carefully, until bread crumbs are nicely browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately. Yields 6 servings.

Electric Grills

BILLI BI

Cooking liquid from the mussels

1½ teaspoons potato starch dissolved in 3 tablespoons water

½ cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon Tabasco

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon minced fresh chives

After the mussels are cooked, slowly drain off the juice into a saucepan, discarding any sediment (should be 1½ cups; adjust with water, if needed). Add the dissolved potato starch mixture and bring to a boil. Add the cream, Tabasco, and salt (taste for salt—you may need less or more depending on the saltiness of the mussels). Cool. Serve the billi bi cold with chives sprinkled on top. Yields 4 small servings

Jacques Pépin has published more than two dozen cookbooks, including 2017’s A Grandfather’s Lessons , about teaching his granddaughter, Shorey, to cook.

MY New England

MY New England

MARTHA’S VINEYARD FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL 2018

MARTHA’S VINEYARD FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL 2018

Yankee recently partnered with Kendall-Jackson Wines at the annual Martha’s Vineyard Food & Wine Festival in Edgartown, MA. The festival, which Yankee sponsors, is four days and three nights of unique-to-the-island experiences and dinners with some of the region’s most notable and award-winning chefs.

Yankee recently partnered with Kendall-Jackson Wines at the annual Martha’s Vineyard Food & Wine Festival in Edgartown, MA. The festival, which Yankee sponsors, is four days and three nights of unique-to-the-island experiences and dinners with some of the region’s most notable and award-winning chefs.

For this year’s festival, Yankee senior food editor Amy Traverso teamed up with the Winnetu Oceanside Resort for a Lobsterpalooza Luncheon. Prepared by Scott Ehrlich, executive chef of the Dunes, the lunch featured three types of lobster rolls perfectly paired with Kendall-Jackson wines.

For this year’s festival, Yankee senior food editor Amy Traverso teamed up with the Winnetu Oceanside Resort for a Lobsterpalooza Luncheon. Prepared by Scott Ehrlich, executive chef of the Dunes, the lunch featured three types of lobster rolls perfectly paired with Kendall-Jackson wines.

At the Saturday Grand Tasting, Amy demonstrated a scallop crudo recipe from a recent Martha’s Vineyard–based segment of the public television series she cohosts, Weekends with Yankee, paired with Kendall-Jackson’s sauvignon blanc.

At the Saturday Grand Tasting, Amy demonstrated a scallop crudo recipe from a recent Martha’s Vineyard–based segment of the public television series she cohosts, Weekends with Yankee, paired with Kendall-Jackson’s sauvignon blanc.

Celebrating the people, destinations, and experiences that make the region and Yankee Magazine so unique.

Celebrating the people, destinations, and experiences that make the region and Yankee Magazine so unique.

Follow along

Follow along

@YANKEEMAGAZINE #MYNEWENGLAND

@YANKEEMAGAZINE #MYNEWENGLAND

Back at the Yankee table, guests enjoyed samples of almond butter toffee from Anchor Toffee, a past winner of Yankee ’s Editors’ Choice Food Awards, and entered to win a curated basket of entertaining essentials, presented by Kendall-Jackson Wines.

Back at the Yankee table, guests enjoyed samples of almond butter toffee from Anchor Toffee, a past winner of Yankee ’s Editors’ Choice Food Awards, and entered to win a curated basket of entertaining essentials, presented by Kendall-Jackson Wines.

For more information about the Martha’s Vineyard Food & Wine Festival, visit mvfoodandwine.com

For more information about the Martha’s Vineyard Food & Wine Festival, visit mvfoodandwine.com

Photographs by Josh Robinson-White

COULD YOU LIVE HERE?

Stowe, Vermont

A taste of the Tyrol in the ski capital of the East.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK

our inches of fresh powder has fallen overnight, and so, digging out skis that have been moldering in the attic for too long, I head north to a Vermont village that wraps itself in a mantle of snow and an Alpine aura. In Stowe, the self-proclaimed “ski capital of the East,” it’s as common to see pedestrians toting skis and snowboards in the downtown as it is to find the word artisanal on restaurant menus. If you’re local, the joke goes, your ski gear is made mostly of duct tape.

Chalets abound, craft beers flow, fires crackle, and the slopes at Stowe Mountain Resort … well, I’m a swift convert to the Toll Road, a green trail that spirals down Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s tallest peak. The air is fresher at 4,395 feet, the powder softer. Experts favor the Front Four, including Goat and Starr, verticals that are the stuff of ski legend. I’m schussing down Lullaby Lane and Tyro practically alone. A sudden quiet descends, peculiar to snow. Behind me trail memories of rope tows, T-bars, and a daredevil dad who grew up skiing the Whites. Tracks stretch out in my wake, then disappear.

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT : Alpine enthusiasts gather at Stowe Mountain Resort, where 485 skiable acres await; sporty relics at the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in downtown Stowe; serving up fresh suds in the tasting room at the Alchemist brewery; the lobby at Field Guide, a 30-room boutique hotel from New England–based Lark Hotels.

Stowe straps on its ski heritage with gusto. Inns, shops, and restaurants all proudly display their own private cache of memorabilia. Vintage photos show fit men cutting Vermont’s first ski trail in the 1930s; there are pictures of Sepp Ruschp, who arrived in Stowe from Austria in 1936 to spearhead a ski school and promote the new sport.

FLEMING

On Main Street, the old meetinghouse (c. 1818) is now the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum, filled with oldfashioned lift chairs, retro ski gear, and vintage Burton snowboards (fitting, since Jake Burton Carpenter lives here).

I’m smitten by the snowy evergreens … stormy skies promising more snow … tiny Stowe Village, sparkling with fairy lights … the

deep family roots, generations passing down their stores, their inns. I’m checking the weather report not for predictions of snowmelt, but for more snow. I don’t drink beer, but I’ve developed a taste for Heady Topper, a local favorite. And I’m in awe of Stowe’s creative uses for Vermont maple syrup. Predictably great on pancakes, it also makes a mean mar-

LEFT : Signs of skiing are everywhere in Stowe, thanks in part to a seasonal shuttle that runs from the heart of town to the slopes.

OPPOSITE : An adobo-rubbed smoked half chicken anchors a fortifying spread at Doc Ponds, a laid-back hangout popular for both its food and its array of beers.

garita and puts a nice spin on Stowe Cider’s Berry Merrill hard cider. I’m sure it’s a delectable addition to Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa’s full-body maple scrub too.

The Setting

Wedged in by mountains, Stowe sits in the northern reaches of Vermont, a 45-minute drive east of Burlington and less than three hours south of Montreal (which explains the fun of hearing French on the streets). Mountain Road stretches like a rope tow from the village center to the ski resort: six snowy miles dotted with inns, resorts, eateries, and breweries. In the distance, Mount Mansfield is veined with ski trails; its newer Spruce Peak area is popular with beginners, but it also has its share of blue runs and black diamonds. A free winter bus shuttles handily from town to mountain, with stops along the way.

Eating Out

How can there be so many dining options in a town of 4,314? And where to begin? “Doc Ponds,” advises our ski shuttle driver. The local hot spot hit the mark—from the juicy pork taco I practically end up wearing, to my first Heady Topper (brewed down the street at the Alchemist), to my companion’s crusty grilled cheese that crackled like a Cheeto. At Butler’s Pantry,

the breakfast acai bowl is like an addictive slushy topped with granola and fruit, and its homemade friends—chunky warm biscuits, cheesy grits, maple sausage—are more comforting than flannel. The rustic-contemporary restaurant Plate produces curry-roasted cauliflower charred in all the right places, spindly parsnips glazed in honey, and a woodsmoked burger, complemented with a winter cocktail made with apple cider and bitters. Set on a snowy hillside, the Dining Room at Edson Hill has a beauty matched by that of its food: fried Brussels sprouts, delicate mussels, duck toast, and, for dessert, warm quince and cranberry galette with rosemary-vanilla ice cream. Much is locally sourced—because it’s Vermont, and they can.

Shopping

Denizens of Quebec City and Montreal have a knack for weathering the big chill in style, and the same is true of Stowe. In its 70-plus shops, the fleece seems fleecier, the Nordic sweaters more Nordic-y. There’s all manner of winter gear at Stowe Mountain Resort, but on Main Street I duck into Shaw’s General Store, a fixture since 1895, where fifthgeneration proprietor Alex Stevens steers me through a tidy maze of hats, vintage-inspired T-shirts, and cozy sweaters. “Dogs and well-behaved people are welcome,” he says. Farther down the road, I drop in on the truffle makers at Laughing Moon Chocolates, who are practically up to their elbows in the sweet stuff.

: Snapshots from Laughing Moon Chocolates, which has been sweetening life in Stowe since 2002.

Across the street is Chalet Life, filled with choice antiques from France and Belgium; the porch alone is wintery inspiration, strewn with vintage trunks and snowy decorations.

Family Fun

A quick walk downhill from the Trapp Family Lodge brings me to what looks like a reunion on skis. Folks of all ages

ABOVE

OPPOSITE : Looking west toward Mount Mansfield State Forest along Main Street in Stowe.

keep arriving at the lodge’s crosscountry ski center, snapping into their gear, and sweeping off into the snowcovered fields. Johannes von Trapp, the Trapp Family Singers’ youngest member (now 79 and president of the resort), established this, North America’s first cross-country ski center, which offers 37 miles of groomed trails on 2,500 acres. Closer to town, the 5.3-mile Stowe Recreation Path draws skiers and snowshoers alike as it winds from the village to Topnotch Resort, through woods, over bridges, and past iconic red barns.

Don’t-Miss Attraction

Stowe excels at the artisanal, and its carefully crafted brews and ciders are prime examples. Here’s a quick list of where to go to sample the goods at

the source: 1) The Alchemist, home to Heady Topper, the now-legendary IPA that caused a sensation when first released by John and Jen Kimmich;

2) Idletyme Brewing Company, an après-ski brewpub housed in a former blacksmith shop, where brewmaster Will Gilson brings 20 years of expertise to bear; 3) Stowe Cider, a familyrun cidery that blends 100 percent Vermont apples into small-batch hard ciders and offers up to eight varieties on tap; 4) Von Trapp Brewing, a brewery inspired by Johannes von Trapp’s trips to Austria and which produces “crisp, clean Austrian lagers,” served up in the bierhall with schnitzel.

Uniquely Stowe

Stowe’s Alpine vibe attracted the famous singing family the von

ABOVE : A country inn that first opened in 1941, Edson Hill got a fresh new look during a major renovation in 2014.

OPPOSITE : A 12-foot-high hydrotherapy waterfall is among the soothing amenities at Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa.

Trapps, who moved here from their native Austria in 1942. Today, the family’s resort business is thriving partly because of the beautiful setting, but also for its glimpse beneath the familiar surface of The Sound of Music . (At the Trapp Family Lodge, take a moment to watch the BBC documentary The Real Maria . I

thought I knew the story by heart, but it’s an interesting contrast to hear Maria’s version.)

And of course, there’s the mountain that started it all: Mansfield, with its 116 trails. Not into skiing? Strap on skates and tackle Spruce Peak’s free ice rink. Or simply snowshoe, anywhere.

Where to Stay

Stowe has one of the highest concentrations of famous mountain inns and resorts in the Northeast. It also has a superb chamber of commerce ready to help visitors get their bearings. We checked into Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa, where third-generation owner Scot Baraw helms a greatly expanded version of the 16-room inn that his grandmother started. The Mountain Road shuttle swings by the lobby and whisks guests right to the slopes. Other worthy accommodations in Stowe include Topnotch Resort; the upscale Green Mountain Inn; country-chic newcomer Field Guide; and the sleek Stowe Mountain Lodge, at the base of the resort.

If You Could Live Here

In one of the most renowned ski resorts in the country, it should come as no surprise that you can spend millions on a 9,000-square-foot slopeside palace—but Stowe has its affordable side too. You’ll find everything from a three-bedroom Trapp Family timeshare for $30,000 to a north-side Stowe Village home with four bedrooms and a view of Mount Mansfield for $255,000.

To see more photos from our visit to Stowe, Vermont, go to newengland.com/ stowe-2019. You can browse additional installments of our Could You Live Here? series—ranging from a Rhode Island beach getaway to a classic New Hampshire college town—by going to newengland.com/CYLH.

Wellness Escapes

Recharge and refocus for the new year with a retreat that goes beyond mere vacation.

esolution season is here, and this year the transformation you’re seeking doesn’t have to be one you strive for alone. These affordable retreat destinations address mind-body wellness from different angles, allowing you to chart a course that makes life-altering, lasting change attainable. Even if you’re not ready to dive deep, you can experience new ways of calming your mind, boosting your health, and owning your life.

Copper Beech Institute

Overwhelmed . Bereavement. Curiosity. Each one-word response to “What brought you here?” is deeply revealing, as 20 transformation seekers embark on a two-hour introduction to meditation at Copper Beech Institute. Wherever you are in your mindfulness practice, this intimate community makes it easy to share the journey with others. Weekend escapes explore topics such as emotional resilience and mindful mothering; five-night silent retreats foster introspection. With 48 wooded acres of walking trails, a labyrinth built of stones that once cobbled Manhattan streets,

and simple yet spacious overnight accommodations, the institute benefits from being located within the country’s largest Catholic retreat center while remaining devoutly secular. West Hartford, CT. 860-7609750; copperbeechinstitute.org

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health

If you’re accustomed to a morning cacophony of kids, texts, and TV news, the silent breakfast at Kripalu is some thing you may initially find intimidat ing. But starting the day stress-free begins to feel like a gift—one of many you’ll unwrap at this lakeside wellness campus. Long before yoga pants were a wardrobe staple, Kripalu was founded to train and inspire those who had embraced this Eastern practice, and yoga education remains its core mission. Increasingly, though, its simple rooms and dorm-style bunks are filled with guests lured by a wide-ranging lineup of more than 700 programs and retreats a year. Whatever needs your attention—health, relationships, creativity, spirituality—imagine an “X” on a map of the Berkshires labeled “Start here.” Stockbridge, MA. 413-448-3152; kripalu.org

New Life Hiking Spa

Movement is often the best medicine, and even though this nontraditional

May, now is the time to get moving. You’ll do your wallet good by booking a rejuvenating Green Mountains getaway at January special rates. Affordability has long been a hallmark of these all-inclusive retreats, where three levels of guided hikes are offered daily, and being with others on scenic trails and over healthy meals can ignite lifelong friendships. Each day is yours to design from a menu that includes yoga and strength classes, talks, and outdoor activities. And once you meet founder Jimmy LeSage, whose new book explains his anti-dieting approach to wellness, you’ll never think of food or fitness in quite the same way again. Killington, VT. 802-

THIS PAGE : Situated on more than 100 pristine acres in the Berkshires, Kripalu has something for mind, body, and spirit—from yoga practice ( TOP ) to cross-country skiing ( BELOW ).

OPPOSITE : The inviting lobby of Vermont’s New Life Hiking Spa hints at the comfort that awaits guests after a day outdoors.

Nurture Through Nature

Whether in winter, when you snowshoe to your cabin or yurt, or in warmer months, when you can embark on a barefoot meditation walk, even a brief stay at this 33-acre mountainside ecoretreat can work wonders. Banish responsibilities from your brain with some private time in a spacious Finnish sauna, where heat and eucalyptusinfused steam will soothe you, or with a massage by the wood stove in your offthe-grid hideaway. Ready for a major breakthrough or mind-set change? Nurture Through Nature offers both themed group retreats and customized individual opportunities for renewal. Through guided meditation, qigong, yoga, and holistic coaching, founder Jen Deraspe helps guests rebalance their lives. Denmark, ME. 855-2077387; ntnretreats.com

Yoga at the Ashram

While an Eat, Pray, Love –inspired escape to India may be out of the question, serenity awaits just 45 minutes from Boston, at Guru Ram Das Ashram. Lodging here is communal: You’ll have a bed and access to Wi-Fi, shared living space, and a vegetarian kitchen. But the rate—$55 per night including early-morning yoga and meditation sessions ($65 if you need towels and sheets)—redefines “stealing away.” Kundalini yoga is the focus here: It’s an energetic, chantdriven practice that sets your lungs afire. Even if you can only spare time to drop in for a class, or to absorb the vibrations from 15 gongs during a full moon or new moon gong meditation, you’ll feel embraced by this spiritual community. Millis, MA. 508-3764525; yogaattheashram.org

Out About

Yankee ’s favorite events this season

CONNECTICUT THE SUN WINE & FOOD FEST

JAN. 24–27

It may be winter, but there’s plenty of fun in the Sun—the Mohegan Sun resort casino, that is—during this sprawling showcase of beer, wine, specialty spirits, and delectable dishes. Among the highlights are a grand tasting with 1,000-plus varieties of wine, beer, and spirits being poured and celebrity chef appearances by the likes of Bobby Flay and Marcus Samuelsson. Uncasville, CT. mohegansun.com

MAINE

PIES ON PARADE

JAN. 27

Come explore the meaning of pie as the town of Rockland hosts a day devoted to this classic baked treat. Stroll among area restaurants and historic inns for samples of 50-plus kinds of pies, from sweet to savory— but be sure to buy your ticket early, as this event sells out fast. Rockland, ME. 207-596-6611; piesonparade.com

MASSACHUSETTS

RAILROAD HOBBY SHOW

JAN. 26–27

For an opportunity to behold more than nine acres of railroad-centric displays and attractions—including more than 60 model train layouts, a flea market, art shows, and Peppersass, Mount Washington’s first cog railway locomotive— make tracks for the Eastern States Expo, home to the largest train show in North America. West Springfield, MA. 413-267-4555; railroadhobbyshow.com

NEW HAMPSHIRE HOOD MUSEUM OF ART GRAND REOPENING

JAN. 26

In a fitting kickoff to Dartmouth College’s 250th anniversary year, the school’s world-class art museum finally reopens after a three-year, $50 million makeover. Come look for your favorite artworks and discover new ones on an opening day enlivened with refreshments, giveaways, and live music. Hanover, NH. hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu

RHODE ISLAND PROVIDENCE CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL

FEB. 15–28

Though the schedule was still under wraps at press time, we’re betting the 10th anniversary edition of this festival will be a hot ticket. Count on a rich slate of independent features and short films from around the world, plus postfilm discussions, workshops for kids, and a young filmmakers showcase. Providence, RI. 401-209-7585; providencechildrensfilmfestival.org

VERMONT FRED HARRIS MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

FEB. 16–17

Ski jumping, the original extreme sport, returns to Harris Hill for a winter spectacle that truly must be seen to be believed. At the only 90-meter ski jump in New England, you can watch jumpers up close as they launch themselves from the top and soar more than 300 feet at speeds up to 60 mph. Brattleboro, VT. harrishillskijump.com

For more best bets around New England, see p. 76

Built in 1922 and reopened in 2009 after a major renovation, Vermont’s Harris Hill is a showcase for Olympic-hopeful ski jumpers during its Fred Harris Memorial Tournament.

Actually Fly a bird!

CONNECTICUT

JAN. 5–6: HARTFORD, Connecticut Wedding & Bridal Expo. The largest event of its kind on the East Coast sets up shop at the Connecticut Convention Center, combining fashion shows with dozens of vendors to offer onestop shopping for any and all wedding needs. 860-365-5678; jenksproductions.com

MAKES

Touch the wild in a way you never dreamed possible!

Located in the beautiful, accessible hill-country of Southern NH.

NHSchoolofFalconry.com

Call Nancy Cowan

603-464-6213

Email: falconers@comcast.net

JAN. 18–20: EAST HADDAM, Festival of New Musicals. Emerging artists premiere recently completed musical works, each of which was brought to life with the guidance and resources of the famed Goodspeed Opera House. 860-873-8668; goodspeed.org

FEB. 8–10: SALISBURY, Jumpfest. For nearly a century, the Salisbury Winter Sports Association has been holding this annual ski jumping competition on Satre Hill, drawing competitors from far and wide and crowds to cheer them on. 860-850-0080; jumpfest.org

FEB. 9: PUTNAM, Fire & Ice Valentine’s Festival At the largest single-block ice carving competition in the U.S., artists transform 300pound chunks of frozen water into sparkling masterpieces. Factor in live carving demonstrations, fire dancers, carriage rides, and chocolate sculptures, and you have a community celebration that’s too cool to pass up. discoverputnam.com

FEB. 9–10: WILLIMANTIC, Romantic Willimantic Weekend . More than 30 downtown businesses will be serving up an assortment of chocolate-inspired treats during a weekend of fun that will also see a cake baking contest and a pub crawl. 860-428-7573; willimanticdowntown.org

FEB. 10: RIDGEFIELD, iLuminate. This one-ofa-kind dance troupe that first rose to fame on America’s Got Talent uses special light suits that enable its members to disappear, reappear, and seemingly fly as they perform to music by Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars, Sam Smith, and more. 203-438-5795; ridgefieldplayhouse.org

and get in a bit of shopping at Olde Mistick Village before sampling the various tasty chowders prepared by chefs from across the region. 860-536-4941; oldemistickvillage.com

MAINE

JAN. 1: OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Lobster Dip Maine’s original and largest ocean dip celebrates its 32nd year, as more than 300 hardy souls take to the chilly water in front of the Brunswick resort (weather permitting) to support Special Olympics Maine. 207-8790489; somaine.org

JAN. 7–11: NEWRY, Children’s Festival. Sunday River offers an entire week dedicated to families that allows kids to ski and stay for free. The fun will include fireworks, scavenger hunts, tubing, evening performances, and dinners with Eddy the Yeti. 207-824-3000; sundayriver.com

JAN. 11–13: AUGUSTA, Northeast Motorsports Expo. This show at the Augusta Civic Center provides racing fans a great opportunity to meet drivers, get autographs, check out race cars, and talk shop with the experts. northeastmotorsportsexpo.net

JAN. 13: BATH, Bath Antique Show . Bath Middle School hosts 50-plus antiques dealers from all over New England at this venerable show, still going strong more than three decades on. From toys and furniture to paintings and collectibles, you never know what you’ll find. 207-832-7798; bathantiquesshows.com

JAN. 19–20: BANGOR, SnowCon. Back-tobasics entertainment is the name of game at the Cross Insurance Center, where the focus is on board, card, and tabletop games, with ample opportunity to browse, play, and buy. snowconmaine.com

FEB. 1–28: BRUNSWICK, Longfellow Days

To honor the life and works of this famed poet and former Bowdoin College student, the Brunswick community hosts a month of readings, lectures, tours, dining events, and film screenings at venues around town. 207-729-4439; brunswickdowntown.org

A Four-Season Destination!

A Four-Season Destination!

A Four-Season Destination!

Year-Round Shopping, Dining & Lodging.

Year-Round Shopping, Dining & Lodging.

Year-Round Shopping, Dining & Lodging.

Year-Round Shopping, Dining & Lodging.

A Four-Season Destination!

FEB. 13–MAR. 10: NEW HAVEN, “Tiny Beautiful Things.” Based on the book by best-selling author Cheryl Strayed (Wild ) and adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos ( My Big Fat Greek Wedding), this play is about an anonymous online advice columnist who, in helping her readers, finds a way to heal herself as well. 203-787-4282; longwharf.org

Year-Round Shopping, Dining & Lodging.

Downhill and Cross-Country Skiing. Visits to Santa’s Hut. Snowmobiling. Ice-Fishing events at Fisherville on Wolfeboro Bay. Art Galleries. Cozy Fireplaces. Skating. Festival of Trees. Snow-shoeing. Holiday Parade and New Year’s Eve Fireworks. Concerts.

Downhill and Cross-Country Skiing. Visits to Santa’s Hut. Snowmobiling. Ice-Fishing events at Fisherville on Wolfeboro Bay. Art Galleries. Cozy

FEB. 8–10: CAMDEN, U.S. National Toboggan Championships. Some 400 sledders take to the historic Jack Williams Toboggan Chute at the Camden Snow Bowl to compete for the fastest time—and to sport zany and creative costumes. camdensnowbowl.com

Downhill and Cross-Country Skiing. Visits to Santa’s Hut. Snowmobiling. Ice-Fishing events at Fisherville on Wolfeboro Bay. Art Galleries. Cozy Fireplaces. Skating. Festival of Trees. Snow-shoeing. Holiday Parade and New Year’s Eve Fireworks. Concerts.

Snow-shoeing Holiday Parade and New Year’s Eve Fireworks. Concerts.

Ask for a FRee Brochure! at wolfeborochamber.com

FEB. 21–24: HARTFORD, Flower & Garden Show. Spring arrives early at the Connecticut Convention Center, where more than 300 booths are overflowing with fresh flowers, plants, herbs, bulbs, and seeds, not to mention gardening books and informational sessions galore. 860-844-8461; ctflowershow.com

603-569-2200 • 800-516-5324

Ask for a FRee Brochure! at wolfeborochamber.com

Downhill and Cross-Country Skiing. Visits to Santa’s Hut. Snowmobiling. Ice-Fishing events at Fisherville on Wolfeboro Bay. Art Galleries. Cozy Fireplaces. Skating. Festival of Trees. Snow-shoeing. Holiday Parade and New Year’s Eve Fireworks. Concerts. Ask for a FRee Brochure! at wolfeborochamber.com

Downhill and Cross-Country Skiing. Visits to Santa’s Hut. Snowmobiling. Ice-Fishing events at Fisherville on Wolfeboro Bay. Art Galleries. Cozy Fireplaces. Skating. Festival of Trees. Snow-shoeing. Holiday Parade and New Year’s Eve Fireworks. Concerts.

FEB. 16–17: PORTLAND, Maine Home & Remodeling Show . With more than 180 exhibitors and a long lineup of expert-led seminars, Cross Insurance Arena has everything you need to shake off the winter blahs and start planning for an inspired spring of home and garden projects. 207-321-4246; newenglandexpos.com

603-569-2200 • 800-516-5324

“Work and Live Where You Love to Play” wolfeboronh.us

Ask for a FRee Brochure! at wolfeborochamber.com

603-569-2200

“Work and Live Where You Love to Play” wolfeboronh.us

Ask for a FRee Brochure! at wolfeborochamber.com

“Work and Live Where You Love to Play” wolfeboronh.us

603-569-2200 • 800-516-5324

“Work and Live Where You Love to Play” wolfeboronh.us

603-569-2200 • 800-516-5324

“Work and Live Where You Love to Play” wolfeboronh.us

FEB. 22–JUNE 2: NEW BRITAIN, “The Beyond: Georgia O’Keeffe and Contemporary Art.” Nearly three dozen works by the mother of American modernism anchor this exploration of modern art, which also features work by 20 emerging contemporary artists. 860-229-0257; nbmaa.org

FEB. 23: MYSTIC, Cabin Fever Festival & Charity Chowder Cook-off. Stroll the grounds

FEB. 17: SOUTH BRISTOL, Ice Harvest . Visit the Thompson Ice House to see how ice was harvested in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After watching the cutting and lending a hand with the transportation of the ice blocks, you’ll still have plenty of time for skating, horse-drawn wagon rides, and a visit to the museum. thompsonicehouse.com

Photo: Katie Pritchard

MASSACHUSETTS

JAN. 4–6: NEW BEDFORD, Moby-Dick Marathon. Join in the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s annual read-a-thon of one of America’s most enduring novels. 508-9970046; whalingmuseum.org

JAN. 10–13: WILLIAMSTOWN, I/O Festival of New Music . Focusing on unconventional spaces and modes of performance, this annual highlight of the Williams College calendar offers talks, workshops, and music by visiting artists as well as students and faculty. 413-597-2425; music.williams.edu

JAN. 11, 25: STURBRIDGE, An Evening of Illumination . Experience life before electricity as you tour historic Old Sturbridge Village lit only by candles, oil lamps, lanterns, and firelight. The tour includes music and storytelling along the way, and concludes at the Bullard Tavern for light refreshments and a cash bar. 800-733-1830; osv.org

JAN. 17–20: CAMBRIDGE, Boston’s Celtic Music Festival. Soak up the sounds of more than 100 Celtic-inspired musicians, singers, and dancers at this event, now in its 16th year, at the storied Club Passim. 617-492-7679; passim.org/bcmfest

JAN. 17–21: BOSTON, New England International Auto Show. Behold the premier showcase of newest-model vehicles, both imported and domestic, at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Test drives will be offered, and factory and dealer reps will be on hand to answer questions. 781237-5333; bostonautoshow.com

JAN. 26–27: HYANNIS, Cape & Islands Orchid Show & Sale. Bringing some much-needed color to midwinter, this event at the Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis provides expert advice on orchid care and maintenance, beautiful photo opportunities, and flowers to bring home. caios.org

FEB. 8–9: IPSWICH, Fire & Ice at Castle Hill on the Crane Estate. Magnificent ice sculptures, a roaring bonfire, and lots of dancing and eating combine for a chill-chasing new event at this historic seaside estate, one of the marquee properties owned by the Trustees of Reservations. 978-356-4351; thetrustees.org

FEB. 8–10: SALEM, So Sweet Chocolate and Ice Sculpture Festival. This decadent tradition brings ice sculptures, wine tastings, deals on Valentine’s Day gifts, and plenty of chocolate, chocolate, chocolate to downtown Salem. 978-744-0004; salemmainstreets.org

FEB. 9: NEWBURYPORT, Merrimack River Eagle Festival . Visit Joppa Flats Education Center for fun indoor and outdoor activities, and learn more about these magnificent birds and the habitat they share with us. 978-462-9998; massaudubon.org

FEB. 22–24: BOSTON, New England Home Show . From lighting to flooring to siding, look for a wide range of home improvement ideas, tools, and techniques at the Seaport World Trade Center. Plus: cooking demonstrations, crafts, a furniture building zone, and specialty foods. 508-823-0389; newenglandhomeshows.com

Our advertisers support Yankee Magazine, so please support them.

H bB…where the views are always memorable.

855 776 1769 • barharborinn.com

An iconic Maine destination for over 130 years.

800 336 2463 • aobarharbor.com

A water view balcony in each room.

Atlantic Oceanside Hotel & Event Center

NEW HAMPSHIRE

JAN. 18–FEB. 17: NEW CASTLE, Winter Wine Festival . Pairing fine wines with great food and the hospitality of a grand hotel, this monthlong festival at Wentworth by the Sea offers everything from jazz brunches to oyster parties. 603-422-7322; winterwinefestival.com

JAN. 25–27: JACKSON, New Hampshire Sanctioned and Jackson Invitational Snow Sculpting Competition . The most talented snow sculptors from across the region converge for a weekend of creating. Spectators are welcome throughout the process, but most pieces are not finished until Sunday. Nighttime illumination makes an after-dark stroll a must. jacksonnh.com

FEB. 1–2: MANCHESTER, New Hampshire Farm and Forest Expo. Billing itself as the state’s “greatest winter fair,” the Farm and Forest Expo promises a top-notch lineup of exhibits, demonstrations, and lots of fuzzy and furry animals at the Manchester Downtown Hotel. nhfarmandforestexpo.org

FEB. 2: PORTSMOUTH, “Make America Grin Again.” The Capitol Steps, a troupe of former congressional staffers turned musical comedians, returns to the Music Hall for an annual concert to support affordable-housing development. 603-4362400; themusichall.org

FEB. 3: HENNIKER, Vertical Challenge . This free, fun race at Pats Peak has skiers and snowboarders competing in more than 30 race categories. In between races, you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy the array of music and games. 603-428-3245; patspeak.com

FEB. 7-10: HANOVER, Dartmouth Winter Carnival . Look for polar bear swims, snowsculpture contests, races, and more across the Dartmouth campus, all offered with a playful dose of Ivy League goofiness. 603646-3399; dartmouth.edu

FEB. 7–10: NEWPORT, Newport Winter Carnival. Still going strong after more than 100 years, this townwide tradition includes pancake breakfasts, a snowball tournament, parades and pageants, and fireworks. newportwintercarnival.org

FEB. 8–10: NASHUA, New Hampshire Orchid Society Show & Sale . The Courtyard Marriott Nashua is the place to be if you’d like to meet some of the Granite State’s most accomplished orchid growers, get expert answers to your questions, and take in a whole lot of beauty. nhorchids.org

FEB. 9–10: MEREDITH, Ice Fishing Derby. Ice fishing means bragging rights and cash prizes for those who reel in the big catch, and a day of fun and camaraderie for all. So purchase your derby pass, and hit the lakes. 603279-7600; meredithrotary.com

FEB. 24: MOUNT WASHINGTON VALLEY, Chocolate Festival. Whether you choose to travel by car, ski, or snowshoe, this inn-toinn tour through the Mount Washington Valley will keep you fueled with decadent goodies to sample along the way. 603-3569920; mwvskitouring.org

go to great heights to capture a story.

RHODE ISLAND

JAN. 1: NEWPORT, Polar Bear Plunge . Take a cold dip for charity (or come out to lend moral support) as the Newport Polar Bears dive into the frigid Atlantic off Easton’s Beach. Proceeds from the swim and the after-swim party benefit A Wish Come True. 401-849-8048; discovernewport.org

JAN. 3: EXETER, Winter Big Day. Register in advance for this popular bird-watching program, which begins at the Audubon Society’s Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge and lets you discover several winter birding hot spots through the course of the daylong van trip. 401-949-5454; asri.org

JAN. 13–26: PROVIDENCE, Restaurant Week

Your dieting resolutions can wait until February. During this twice-yearly culinary to-do, restaurants across the city offer wallet-friendly prix fixe lunches and dinners (and even some two-for-one specials). goprovidence.com

JAN. 19–20: PAWTUCKET, Knitting Weekend & Fiber Market. Refine your crafting skills and stock up on supplies as Slater Mill celebrates fiber arts with a marketplace, workshops, and more. 401-725-8638; slatermill.org

FEB. 2: WESTERLY, Nordic Voices. As part of its Kent Hall Masters Series, the Chorus of Westerly welcomes this six-member a cappella group that’s been earning acclaim not only back home in Norway but also in South Africa, Taiwan, Bolivia, and the U.S. 401-596-8663; chorusofwesterly.org

FEB. 8–10: PROVIDENCE, Northeast International Auto Show . Check out all the latest models and newest features as one of the Rhode Island Convention Center’s most popular exhibitions returns. 401-458-6000; providenceautoshow.com

FEB. 9: LINCOLN, Lincoln’s Birthday Celebration. Dig into a slice of cake at the Arnold House museum in honor of Honest Abe’s birthday as you learn about the 16th president’s visits to Rhode Island and how it was that the town of Lincoln came to be named for him. 401-728-9696; historicnewengland.org

FEB. 15–24: NEWPORT, Winter Festival . This annual extravaganza includes activities throughout the city (more than 160 events total) that collectively offer fine food, music, and entertainment for the whole family. 401-847-7666; newportwinterfestival.com

FEB. 23: WOONSOCKET, Mardi Gras Celebration. Honoring the area’s proud FrenchCanadian heritage, the festivities at St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center include live music, a delicious Cajun-inspired dinner, and cash bar, plus lots of costumes, of course. nrica.org

VERMONT

JAN. 19: QUECHEE, Winter Wildlife Celebration. Visit the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS), the home of many winged ambassadors—from owls to eagles—for this day that’s all about family-fun activities. Join expert educators to explore exhibits and trails, and enjoy games, crafts, and activities. 802-359-5000; vinsweb.org

JAN. 13: STOWE, Stowe Derby. One of the most unusual ski races in North America provides participants with the ultimate test of their abilities. The race begins atop Mount Mansfield and concludes in the historic village of Stowe—and just one set of skis is allowed per competitor. mmsc-mmwa.org

JAN. 24–FEB. 3: STOWE, Winter Carnival . From snow volleyball, snow golf, and broomball to ice carving, ski movies, karaoke, and a beer garden, there’s something for everyone at Stowe’s annual celebration of winter. stowewintercarnival.com

JAN. 29–31: ESSEX JUNCTION, Vermont Farm Show . The Champlain Valley Expo Center plays host to this annual tradition, which features more than 250 booths showcasing everything from beekeeping to sugar making to dairy farming. 802-461-8774; vtfarmshow.com

FEB. 2: BARRE, Arrival from Sweden. Billed as the “most authentic ABBA show there is,” Arrival from Sweden has been bringing the hits of the immortal pop band to life for more than 20 years. Now the group hits the stage at the Barre Opera House to perform all of ABBA’s hits— and in appropriately over-the-top costumes. 802-476-8188; barreoperahouse.org

FEB. 2–3: CRAFTSBURY COMMON, Craftsbury Marathon Doubleheader. The largest Nordic ski event in the East now comes with a twist: You can register for the classic marathon on

Saturday, skiing either 25 or 50 kilometers on some of the most scenic terrain in New England, or opt for the new, slightly shorter freestyle marathon on Sunday. Or both! 802-586-7767; craftsbury.com

FEB. 9: BURLINGTON, Brrrlington Winter Bash. The Miller Recreation Center hosts a free day of family fun both indoors and out, from dogsled races and snow fort building to crafts and dancing and food. 802-540-1058; enjoyburlington.com

FEB. 15–17: WOODSTOCK, Vermont Flurry. Over Presidents’ Day weekend, professional snow sculpting teams descend on the village green to create stunning large-scale sculptures. 802-457-3981; pentanglearts.org

FEB. 16: NORWICH, Igloo Build. One of the Montshire Museum’s longest-running and most entertaining traditions returns, as igloo expert Bert Yankielun gives handson instruction on how to build an insulated, sturdy snow house. Fun for all ages, with indoor warm-up activities throughout the day. 802-649-2200; montshire.org

FEB. 16–24: BRATTLEBORO, Brattleboro Winter Carnival. At this townwide party, you can see a movie, a puppet show, a concert, or a variety show; hit the ice rink or the dance floor; and still find time for cook-offs and pancake breakfasts, sleigh and snowmobile rides, and games. brattleborowintercarnival.org

PHOTO: MARK FLEMING

NO. 213 LAKES & MOUNTAINS REGION

We slid off the lift and huddled together at the summit, ready to race to the bottom for hot chocolate. It’s a tradition. But first, the family photo. Also a tradition. Our cheeks were red. Our noses might have been a little runny. But it didn’t matter, and suddenly it felt like a first. We snapped the photo. Then we were off to the races, and I got my butt kicked. I blamed my goggles. But I still wondered, was there time for one more run? This is me.

JOURNEY

GUIDED WINTER ADVENTURES

OR

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN S. DYKES

A MAINE SNOWSHOE ESCAPE

Bundled in warm layers, snowshoes strapped to my feet, I am standing at the Stratton Brook Trailhead in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, on a Saturday morning with eight other people. I’ve just dropped off my backpack to be shuttled to a hut up in the mountains of western Maine, and Kimberly Truskowski—our genial, cool, colorful-headband-wearing guide—is painting a picture of what awaits us this weekend, on our Maine Huts & Trails snowshoeing trip.

“Maybe you’re here to escape from the chaos of life,” she says. “Or maybe you’re here to connect with the natural environment. Either way, it’s winter’s art out there, like walking through black-and-white photography provided by Mother Nature.”

We are all strangers—the only thing we know about one another is that we all signed up for the same two-day, one-night trip—but we share nods and murmurs of agreement,

Maine Huts & Trails’s four eco-lodges offer cozy and welcoming way points for skiers and snowshoers trekking through its 80-mile-plus network of backcountry trails.

looking around the rest of the group and acknowledging that, for one reason or another, everyone here wants the outdoor escape that Kimberly described.

We start down a snowy runway with an open view of the Bigelow Range ahead—a beautifully looming backdrop as we weave in and out of the forest— and Sugarloaf Mountain just across the way. The snow is fluffy, thanks to a recent snowstorm; the air is brisk yet comfortable beneath the sun. It’s just warm enough to work up a light sweat.

Snowshoeing can be one of the easiest, most peaceful ways to explore winter. At times, we are so far into the forest that only a sliver of sun shines through the trees. Then we emerge into long open stretches hugged on both sides by trees lined up like dominos so far that it’s impossible to tell if the trail ever ends.

We each snowshoe at our own pace. I trek along to the rhythm of my breathing, the snow beneath me crunching in sync with the thin veil of icy air I exhale, my only distraction an errant wild creature occasionally dodging across the trail. Distant voices serve as a reminder that a comrade is never far away.

We travel just over four miles each day (about half a day, with stops along the way), up and down trails that are both steep and gentle, along a route designed to be doable by a varied group such as ours: young and old, novice and veteran.

A new friend is Kay Nash from Orono, Maine, whose adventures have ranged from hiking and rafting the Grand Canyon to biking in Cuba. Soon she will move to the West Coast, so she signed up for this trip as a good-bye to New England. “I looked at doing this for years, and it just never materialized,” she says. “I think sometimes you just have to make the reservation to go—otherwise, things will always get in the way.”

In our group we have an avid hiker looking for fresh territory, a couple from New York in search of “good snow” (something central Maine rarely fails to deliver), and a Maine Huts & Trails

enthusiast on her third guided trip. Having climbed many mountains across New York and New England, Ben and Mary Pratt of Biddeford Pool, Maine, were there for a new experience, and something else, too. “Having someone else cook dinner,” Mary says, laughing. Her sentiment is likely felt by everyone at dinner, as heaping plates of roasted chicken, broccoli, wild rice, multigrain bread, cabbage slaw, and carrot cake are set before us.

Our leader, Kimberly, who keeps a close eye on her snowshoe-clad ducklings on the trail, is a Registered Maine

Among the payoffs for those snowshoeing into this western Maine landscape: views of the Bigelow Range, whose peaks seem even grander in contrast to the frozen expanse of Flagstaff Lake.

KIMBERLY TRUSKOWSKI SNOWSHOEING GUIDE

Winter adventure she’d most like to try:

“I’ve often hiked and camped in Baxter State Park, but I’ve never done backcountry skiing and winter camping there. That’s something I’ve been dreaming about for a long time.”

Maine Huts & Trails, Kingfield, ME

MAINEHUTS.ORG

Guide who has worked with Maine Huts & Trails for four years while living in rural Maine (“It’s closer to get my groceries in Canada”). She tells us a story about why the backcountry tours she leads are so important:

“This summer I took a father and his two sons on a trip to the Flagstaff Hut. We went out to an island and camped for the evening; we cooked everything over a fire. He was from the North Shore of Massachusetts, and he said, ‘You know, I’m from a place with 60,000 people, and nobody knows about this.’ It was just so good for him to take his sons out without having to buy all kinds of gear, because it wasn’t something they could do regularly. The boys loved it.”

Our destination is the Stratton Brook Hut, one of four huts scattered along 80 miles of trails that will eventually encompass 12 huts and span almost 200 miles, from the Mahoosuc Range to Moosehead Lake, similar to European hut-to-hut systems (or, closer to home, the Appalachian Mountain Club huts in New Hampshire’s White Mountains). The network intricately combines wide-open, flat trails with

GUIDED WINTER ADVENTURES

ON THE WILD SIDE TRIPS THAT FEATURE CREATURES.

Fish Nerds Ice Fishing Tours

Famed for his quest to catch (and eat) all 48 fish species in New Hampshire, Clay Groves combines his science-teacher background with piscatorial expertise to lead all-ages ice fishing tours in the White Mountains. Conway, NH; fishnerds.com

RiverQuest

Eagle Cruise

Nordic ski tracks and steep side trails up into the mountains.

Inside our home for the weekend— with its wood paneling throughout, vaulted ceilings, radiant floor heating, and floor-to-ceiling windows—I feel I am in a backcountry hut but one with all the comfort and conveniences of home. We have a drying room for wet clothes, large shared bathrooms with showers, and plenty of warm beverages.

I came on this guided trip alone. But between conversations by the fieldstone fireplace, laughter from card games at the long wooden tables, and freshly prepared meals eaten familystyle, I feel connected to all the people who have trekked through the snow to this secluded hut for the night.

Hours earlier, I admit, I had reservations about spending two days snowshoeing with a group of strangers (and, let’s be honest, sleeping in a bunk next to them), but we grew closer, and told our stories, all the while discovering winter in the Maine woods. It was just as Kimberly said: an escape from the chaos of daily life. —Cathryn McCann

Board the RiverQuest for a twohour cruise on the Connecticut River, and you’ll have the chance to spy all manner of winter wildlife: majestic eagles, yes, but also swans, seals, coyotes, deer, and more. Haddam, CT; ctriverquest.com

Birding with Mass Audubon

Massachusetts’s largest nature conservation nonprofit o ers birding trips for all ages, from “owl prowls” to coastal watches. One highlight: a two-day jaunt from Newburyport’s Joppa Flats Education Center in January. Locations statewide; massaudubon.org

GUIDED WINTER ADVENTURES

HIT THE HEIGHTS OPTIONS THAT WILL TAKE YOU UP, UP, AND AWAY.

Bretton Woods Canopy Tour

Zip-lining isn’t just for summer.

At the Bretton Woods ski resort, riders can buckle in for a threehour winter thrill ride that delivers spectacular views of the western White Mountains Carroll, NH; brettonwoods.com

SnowCoach Tours

If you can’t climb Mount Washington, get a ride: A van mounted on tank tracks, the SnowCoach takes visitors on a round trip to the tree line; avid snowshoers have the option to hoof it back down. Gorham, NH; mtwashington autoroad.com

Ice Climbing at IMCS

Check out this adrenalinegoosing sport at the International Mountain Climbing School, whose home base in the Whites gives easy access to some of the best climbing spots in the East. Group and private guided tours available. North Conway, NH; ime-usa.com.

‘IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DOGS’

Arutted dirt road ends at a parkin g area in Lake Elmore, Vermont, where a small “Peace Pups” banner confirms that I’m in the right place—prompting a sigh of relief from both me and my rental car, which clearly would have preferred a more suburban landscape. I’d been duly warned that this tour location was a bit off the beaten path, and it is indeed as advertised.

There is no cellphone service. Instead, a sign directs me to a two-way radio that can summon my host if I’m not up for the five-minute walk to the tent site where tours begin and end with hot cocoa and a chill-erasing fire. But the sun is shining and the day is unseasonably pleasant, so I set off down the path.

I hear occasional barks and yips, which get louder as I walk, and before long my host and his team come into view. The eight sled dogs I’ll be riding with, all Siberian huskies, are already in harness and clearly eager for the run. A second team rests in Ken Haggett’s handmade double-decker, truck-borne kennel, having made their dogsled run before my arrival. On the side of the truck, names are hand-painted: Tundra, Zena, Pacem, Ramble, Jazz, Peggy, about 20 altogether.

Ken is the reason I’m here, though he’s quick to point out that “nobody comes all the way out here to see me It’s all about the dogs.”

As he finalizes the harnessing of the dogs to the gang line at the front of his toboggan sled (also handmade), I favor the team with some head scratches, stoking my Jack London–inspired sled dog fantasies of years gone by.

Before we depart, Ken gives me a quick rundown of the controls. He’ll be at the helm, and my role on this guided adventure will mostly be as human cargo, but it’s still good to know what’s going on. I learn about the snow hook (the dogsled version of a parking brake) and the difference between gang lines, tug lines, neck lines, and snub lines.

Before long, we are off and running: me sitting in comfort, Ken standing at the controls, and the dogs pulling and running from the moment they feel the snub line release.

Our course takes us along a groomed trail from the field where we started, with its beautiful views of the Worcester Range, and into the woods. We pass an old farm site, an abandoned road. There are streams to cross and hills to climb.

The dogs set the pace throughout, running when so inclined, slowing to a walk at times.

Ken is standing behind me, which makes for easy conversation as we ride. He points out landmarks and shares dog stories. Ken grew up on a dairy farm not far from here. He was a woodworker, but after 30 years he needed a change. Around that time, he and his wife attended a dogsledding event that featured skijoring, in which one or more dogs pull a person on skis. Ken thought it looked like great fun, but his dog at the time, a German shepherd mix named Maura, did not share his excitement. Eventually they agreed to disagree about skijoring, and Maura retired to a life of chasing Frisbees.

But for Ken and his wife, a seed had been planted. They adopted their first Siberian husky, Jake, from a shelter in 2001. More dogs soon followed. By 2005, Ken was flirting with the idea of a dogsled

“I LOVE THEIR PERSONALITIES, THEIR ENTHUSIASM, THEIR STUBBORNNESS,” KEN SAYS OF HIS HUSKIES.

the woodshop for good.

Ken’s current lineup includes 23 dogs, 19 of whom still run. Ralphy and Solar, both age 7, are lead dogs. Fleche, who was adopted from Quebec (his name means “arrow” in French), is the oldest active dog, at 13.

As we talk, Ken interjects voice commands, directing the team “gee” (right) or “haw” (left). Our course takes us over three loops between woods and fields, a 4½-mile run.

Although competitive dogsledders prefer the more businesslike Alaskan huskies, Ken is dedicated to his Siberians. “I love their personalities, their enthusiasm, their stubbornness,” he says. “I like sharing these dogs with our

conventional sense. They live like pets.”

I ask Ken how long it takes to train a dog to run with the team, and he laughs. “About five minutes. They have a natural instinct for it. They love to run.” —Joe

action. They also run in autumn, when owner Ken Haggett offers rides on the wheeled sleds he uses to get the dogs in shape for winter.

Bills

KEN HAGGETT DOGSLEDDING GUIDE

Winter adventure he’d most like to try: “The [Maine Huts & Trails] hut-to-hut trail network looks like a beautiful place to explore. And the snow conditions would help me decide whether to go by fat bike or by skis!”

Peace Pups Dogsledding, Lake Elmore, VT

PEACEPUPSDOGSLEDDING.COM

GUIDED WINTER ADVENTURES

GO FULL THROTTLE

GREAT RENTAND-RIDE SNOWMOBILE TOURS.

New England Outdoor Center

This venerable Maine outfitter

o ers threehour weekend guided rides that newbies will love: Before hitting well-groomed trails that deliver prime Katahdin views, they can rent any gear they lack, from bibs to boots. Millinocket, ME; neoc.com

Green Mountain Snowmobile Adventures

After a day skiing down Smuggler’s Notch, why not turn around and snowmobile back up? Take an evening tour into the Notch Pass for winter views that few others get to see. Je ersonville, VT; greenmtnsnow mobile.com

Northern Extremes

With tours ranging from an hour to overnight, and covering both the Whites and the Great North Woods, this outfitter makes the most of the longest snowmobile season in the state. Carroll and Bartlett, NH; northernextremes snowmobiling.com

A TICKET TO THE TOP

When I lose my ice ax, the realization hits me: This will probably hurt.

It’s early afternoon, and I’ve just started my descent of Mount Washington—moving in a slow, deliberate diagonal pattern across a sheet of thickly crusted snow—when one of my crampons catches, and I fall. There, atop that shimmering, slick surface, I begin to slide on my stomach. Faster and faster. When the ax slips out of my hands, so too does the only surefire way I know to stop. For the next 100 yards, I slide down the peak like some surprised participant in an obscure Guinness World Records event. And still I keep thinking, Surely I’ll slow down. Something will stop me

I am right, sort of.

Ahead waits a set of boulders. The one I hit is shaped like a ramp, sending me flying. Then I land on my back with a thud. After a few long moments—Are all my limbs still attached? —I blink the world back into existence. In the distance, I hear, “Are you all right?”

I slowly sit up to see my guide, Steve Nichipor, moving quickly toward me. “I think so!” I yell, groggy but embarrassed that I’d forgotten his instructions on how to dig in with my ice ax. My overstuffed backpack had managed to absorb most of the blow. Aside from a sore right elbow, I seemed to be intact. Steve does a run of diagnostics, then offers water. He keeps his eyes on me as I eat an energy bar.

While I had scaled Mount Washington in a variety of ways during summer— train, car, and on foot—a winter climb was something I’d anxiously sidestepped. I wanted to do it, and I didn’t want to do it. This is not a mountain for the novice, or the careless, at any time of year, but in snow and ice it’s especially treacherous.

In Steve Nichipor I found my ticket to the top of Northeast’s tallest peak. Over the past quarter-century, the Connecticut native has worked and climbed the Whites in every season and in all kinds of weather conditions. His résumé reads like that of a Ph.D. in Washingtonology. He’s guided independently for the Appalachian Mountain Club and Eastern Mountain Sports, and for the past decade he’s worked as an outdoor guide for the Omni Mount Washington Resort. The easygoing 47-year-old has led visitors from across the world and from many different walks of life. There was the pair of 12-year-old ice climbers he introduced to the region, the crew of

college guys from Singapore he guided through heavy January rains, and the retired Connecticut man who made an annual pilgrimage out of hiking with Steve each winter. “He’s our go-to guy,” says Craig Clemmer, the hotel’s director of marketing. When Good Morning America wanted to film a segment on a winter climb up Mount Washington, the hotel turned to Steve.

The most popular winter trek up the mountain begins at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center in Gorham. Inside the building is a sign detailing how hikers should dress “like an onion” for a winter climb. Layers, in other words. And, as I get started on my own guided winter adventure here, layers I have. Multiples of long underwear, a few different jackets, thick gloves and mittens, socks upon socks. I’ve rented plastic boots and crampons from International Mountain Equipment in North Conway, and I borrow an ice ax, ice spikes, and trekking poles from Steve.

WHAT AWAITS US AT THE SUMMIT IS AS BEAUTIFUL A WINTER PICTURE AS I’VE EVER SEEN.

Summiting New England’s highest mountain might be the ultimate winter adventure, but it’s not to be undertaken lightly.

GUIDED WINTER ADVENTURES

The four-mile climb covers a robust 4,200 feet of elevation along mixed terrain: a relatively easy stretch along the wide Tuckerman’s Ravine Trail; a steep, icy ascent up Lion Head. During the early sections I hear myself saying, “Look at that view of Wildcat!” and then, a few minutes later, “What a view of Wildcat!” And so on. Steve takes it in stride. “It gets better and better,” he says.

Closer to the top, we peer into Tuckerman’s Ravine, and at the base of the summit cone, we rest. Then it’s time to make a final push to the top. What awaits is as beautiful a winter picture as I’ve ever seen. Under crystal-clear skies, the parking lot and the final stretch of the auto road are blanketed in ice; rime ice and snow covers most of everything else. “I’ve never seen it like this before,” Steve says. Just as astonishing is that Mount Washington’s famous weather isn’t showing its face today. We are in a bicolor world. White below and around us; blue overhead.

Tucked away from the wind, Steve and I scarf down bagels at the top. Then we

STEVE NICHIPOR CLIMBING GUIDE

Winter adventure he’d most like to try: “Snow kiting. It sounds like a great way to get the thrill of speed you get with downhill, but on mellower terrain—like on lakes, which we have a lot of in the Northeast.”

Omni Mount Washington Resort, Bretton Woods, NH

OMNIHOTELS.COM

begin our descent—and yes, for a short stretch at least, I manage to move a little faster than my guide. I was grateful for his guidance up the mountain but even more so going back down, as we gingerly proceed after my fall. At one especially icy stretch, he ropes us together and rappels me over the terrain.

“We’ll just take our time,” he says several times. And so I do, mindful of my sore elbow and ego, and in awe of the fantastical winter landscape we are trekking through. —Ian

Aldrich

A TRAIL RIDE THROUGH SNOWY LINCOLN WOODS

Scoot your butt to the left! Are you doing OK, Kim? We’ll wait for you. Sit up !”

Linda Oliveira barks this back at me from her horse at the head of our trail ride, punctuating the plodding beat of hooves on snow-sugared ground. Her voice is impassioned like a Little League coach’s: correcting, encouraging. But it’s not the loudest one I hear. Even the constant dialogue—OK, monologue—that I’m keeping up with my mount, gentle stable favorite Champ, can’t compete with my late mom’s insistence: You are not riding a horse.

But I am, in flagrant violation of a family policy that originated before I was born, when Mom’s pride and backside were injured in an equine mishap. With less instruction than the Honda salesman provided before I pulled away in my four-wheel-drive, I am steering a 1,200pound, all-terrain creature with the distractible disposition of a 2-year-old.

Reins left to go left. Reins right to go right. Pull back to stop. Heels to move along. Grip the saddle horn with your other hand. Even as I juggle my Nikon, it seems pretty straightforward. The country music pumping from speakers at

BLAZE A TRAIL

OFF-THEBEATEN-PATH ADVENTURES.

Dogsled Camping

Yes, the pros at Mahoosuc Guide Service can take you deep into the Maine woods on dogsledding overnights that go from a few days to nearly a week. For epic wilderness immersion, though, check out their nine-day trek in Nunavik, the arctic region of Quebec. Newry, ME; mahoosuc.com.

Backcountry Skiing

The Catamount Trail Association leads one-day tours that are open to all, but a CTA membership will get you in on multiday trips that explore di erent sections of the trail, which runs from the Massachusetts border clear to Canada. Burlington, VT; catamounttrail.org

Sunset Stables fades, and I can feel every muscle in this bay beauty’s back working as our small group sets out single file. Ahead of me, riding Champ’s best buddy, Shadow, on this cobalt-sky Saturday’s first trail ride, is my theatrical 15-year-old, who is eager to add horseback riding to the skill set that might land her a movie role. I’m envious of the Lara Croft confidence she projects astride her white-stippled red roan (even though Shadow’s attention falters whenever something in the wintry landscape looks remotely like a snack).

The temperature drops 10 degrees as we venture at a slow and steady, novicefriendly pace alongside a frozen pond, down weathered banks, and around Lincoln Woods State Park’s massive glacial boulders. It’s an obstacle course planted millennia ago: awe-inspiring and serene. Yet I’m nervously prattling in Champ’s perky ears as we bring up the rear. “Do you see that downed tree, Champ? Do you know how to step over a tree? God, I hope you’ve got this.”

He does. And he lets me know it with an emphatic snort. Linda, our leader, reassures me that he’s just clearing dust particles from his long, strong lungs. She’s been wrangling horses here for more than 40 of the Lincoln, Rhode Island, facility’s nearly 100 years and has co-owned the year-round operation with Jim Borden since the state rescued the property in 2004. They’ve selected saintly, versatile horses that compete, teach, and hit the trail in up to four feet of snow. Bug-free, no-sweat winter treks are best, Jim says. They’re available to walk-ins on winter weekends and by appointment weekdays.

Faced with a steep, snow-slicked hill to ascend, I resist the urge to squeeze my eyes shut. Progress. When I let the braided reins slip from my hand as I’m framing a shot, Champ ramps up his gait, and I’m jolted back to my driving duties. Mom’s admonitions boom. Linda’s, too. Yet I retake control calmly. “Whoa, Champ. Work with me, pal.” I’ve already talked to him more this winter than to most humans I know.

I’m not eager to dismount when the barn and bonfire reappear. I’ve just started to notice bird sounds ... to search for signs of fox, deer, and coyote in the leaf-stripped, wide-open woods ... to feel soothed by this moving meditation. A peppermint candy and a pat on the neck seem inadequate thanks for my Champ, who earned my trust and changed “you can’t” to “you can” in an hour—and who ensured that my daughter’s sense of adventure won’t be limited by ancestral fears. —

Kim Knox Beckius

Winter adventure she’d most like to try:

“Dogsledding, because I do love canines. But probably just for a few hours, rather than an overnight trip—I really look forward to my shower and co ee in the morning!”

Sunset Stables, Lincoln, RI SUNSETSTABLESRI.COM

On a Sunset Stables winter trail ride, surefooted and laid-back mounts carry their riders down a snow-covered slope in the 627-acre Lincoln Woods State Park, near Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

LINDA OLIVEIRA TRAIL RIDING GUIDE

THE

BY ANNIE GRAVES

PHOTOGRAPHS BY GRETA RYBUS

MAKERS

THEIR SKILLS ARE AS OLD AS NEW ENGLAND ITSELF; THEIR MATERIALS, TIMELESS. BUT THERE’S A MODERN GLEAM THAT RUNS THROUGH THE WORK OF THE 10 ARTISANS IN THESE PAGES, EACH PUSHING THE BOUNDS OF WHAT’S EXPECTED WHILE STILL KEEPING THAT ESSENTIAL CONNECTION: HAND TO HAND, THEIRS TO OURS.

JOHN FRANCIS DESIGNS

FORREST STONE

Out here in the hinterlands of Portland, far from the bustle of Exchange Street or Munjoy Hill, this woodworking metal fabricator is dreaming up custom fixtures for the city’s high-profile foodie and brewery attractions: the counter at the Holy Donut, for instance, or the powder-coated aluminum bar at Battery Steel Brewing. It’s also possible you’ve lounged on one of his 68 wood-andsteel barstools—handcrafted beauties with the grace and balance of Calder mobiles—that are scattered around the city.

That said, when talk turns to taprooms and breweries, Forrest lights up. He’s fast making a name up and down the coast for his work in this arena, playing with purge lines, building stairs to a koelschip (a kind of fermentation vessel), and constructing large wooden vats called foeders that are used in Europe but almost impossible to find in the U.S. “It’s more fun than making a live-edge table for a millionaire,” he says with a grin. “Instead of making a static object, these are in the service of another art. And the frontier for metalworking feels limitless.”

A raised garage door marks the entrance to Forrest Stone’s 2,000-square-foot workshop, a warren of rooms jammed with equipment. Each area is carefully delineated: metal, woodworking, painting, photo studio. In the past, Forrest gained a reputation for crafting tables and chairs he describes as “Shaker meets midcentury modern,” meaning lean and elegant. But if you’ve come to admire his previous work, be prepared for the unexpected.

ADDIE

PEET

ADDIE PEET DESIGN, WINTERPORT, ME ADDIEPEET.COM

There’s something a little bit prairie about Addie Peet. Maybe it’s the homesteading feel of the house that she and her husband, Noah, built in 2016 in a carved-out circle at the far end of a dirt road in Winterport. The small, shingled building, all 560 square feet, rises from the land like a sturdy pinecone. The attached studio where Addie makes her contemporary painted floorcloths, however, is something else entirely: sleek, industrial, twice as big. So maybe there’s some urban hipster scrambled in too. Not literally—this Maine native grew up in Camden, and for decades her family operated a boys’ summer camp—but more stylistically. With her horn-rimmed glasses Addie gives off a serious air, yet there’s an undertone of whimsy, a complexity that finds its way into rug designs such as Indigo Dye, which seems tiedyed onto super-thick canvas, and Coastal Stripe, layered to create depth in each stripe.

“It was a lost art,” she says of her initial interest in floorcloths. “I kept wondering, ‘Why can’t you find these anywhere?’ I got into it as an intriguing hobby.” That was 10 years ago, when she started experimenting with the same canvas her family once used to make camp canoes. It took two or three years before she turned out a rug she would put her name on, because “I wanted to make something that would last forever, that would stand up to dogs, mud, snow.” Addie points to an 8-by-11-foot floorcloth sitting on a massive worktable, explaining that when a rug is this big, she will actually climb on top of it as she works. “It was harder when I was nine months pregnant.” Definitely prairie.

JAMES AND ZOE ZILIAN

FARMHOUSE POTTERY, WOODSTOCK, VT

FARMHOUSEPOTTERY.COM

Lucky chickens: free-range and they get to drink from Farmhouse Pottery. These fortunate fowl live in a picturesque coop tucked into the elbow of a vaguely Scandinavian-looking building on the outskirts of Woodstock. “We put a lot of love into it,” says Zoe Zilian of the 1954 former Bible bindery on the Ottauquechee River that she and husband James bought and rehabbed nearly four years ago. Today, instead of Bibles, it’s stocked with the elegant pitchers, cheeseboards, and dinnerware that have gained a following among high-end chefs, foodies, and even the likes of Scarlett Johansson, who recently stopped by.

“I was the kid who was immediately good at it,” James says of his “obsession” with clay. “I started in sixth grade, and never really stopped.” Married 15 years, the Zilians were “always making things,” says Zoe. After living in New York City and then Boston, they settled here to raise their daughters. “I thought it would be nice to have him throw some pots,” she remembers. James resurrected an old style of European studio pottery, then modernized and refined it. “It’s our own recipe,” he says. “We were after durability—we wanted people to use [what we make].”

Customers can watch that recipe spinning into a hypnotic mix of crockery at the hands of skilled potters in the attached studio, using clay mined in Sheffield, Massachusetts. At the end of the day, each handcrafted pot is stamped with a signature laurel wreath. Says James, “We’re practicing artistry with a blob of mud and centrifugal force.”

JOHN FRANCIS DESIGNS, LOWELL, MA JOHNFRANCISDESIGNS.COM

In a former fabric mill on one of Lowell’s historic canals, you can practically hear the creative hum. Three hundred artists are tucked away in the Western Avenue Studios, the largest artist community on the eastern seaboard. Tantalizing hints of talent are strewn about the endless corridors, with murals, sitting nooks, and even a brewery to distract.

But step inside John Welch’s woodworking studio, and there’s an instant feeling of focus. The warm scent of wood hangs in the air, a preamble to sinuous wooden spoons, serving boards, and dark dishes carved of walnut. A handful of these projects fill his massive workbench, which once served the shop class at a public middle school in Lowell. “There’s a good chance I worked on this very table,” John says, running his hand over the surface. “I’ve always been a tinkerer.”

On this day, much of the bench is occupied by an outsize serving board, a special commission for a chef in Boston. Four shallow “bowls” are carved into the seamlessly joined slabs of polished walnut; the wood seems melted together. “I like doing spoons,” John says, “but I love doing one-of-a-kind pieces.” Lately, he’s getting more chances to do just that, thanks to the food photographers, chefs, and stylists who are drawn to his clean, unfussy look.

He picks up a chunk of raw wood and shows how the almost childishly rough outline of a spoon has been drawn on. Soon he’ll select from his rack of tools—gouges, hooks, carving knives, chisels— and begin the slow process of carving removing everything that isn’t a spoon.

JOHN WELCH

THE NEW MAKERS

TANYA MONIQUE CRANE TANYA MONIQUE JEWELRY

JAMES AND ZOE ZILIAN FARMHOUSE POTTERY

RUBEN MARROQUIN RUBEN MARROQUIN ART & WEAVING

LINNY KENNEY LINNY KENNEY LEATHER

MELINDA COX BALANCED DESIGN

MORIAH COWLES ORCHARD STEEL

FORREST STONE FORJSTONE WOODWORKING & METAL FABRICATION

ADDIE PEET ADDIE PEET DESIGN

JEREMY FREY

JEREMY FREY BASKETS, EDDINGTON, ME JEREMYFREYBASKETS.COM

Jeremy Frey’s hands rarely stop weaving, but there are exceptions. Once, he takes a break to explain the intricacies of a custom basket, its black latticework climbing the sides of a tightly woven body. And later, amid ash logs in the garage next to his basement studio, he shows how to whack a tree with the blunt end of an ax, battering every inch to loosen and strip the layers of fiber that will one day sit curled in his studio, waiting.

Raised in Passamaquoddy Indian Township, near the Canadian border, Jeremy learned to make baskets from his mother, Gal Frey. “Growing up, I always did art,” he says. “Our toys were pencils, paints, clay. I had my own jackknife when I was 5.” As he got older, he says, “I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, except I wanted to be an artist. At 21, my mother said, ‘Why don’t you weave some baskets?’”

With seven generations of weavers in his family, it seemed inevitable. Then he got fierce about it. “I wanted to do what no one else had ever done with baskets.” His first show, in 2002, sold out. Since then, his work has won just about every prize that can go to a basket.

Unlike his grandfather’s sturdy utility baskets, Jeremy’s own pieces are called “fancy.” It feels like understatement. A Jeremy Frey basket swoops and curls, like music rendered in ash wood and sweet grass. “I like to do baskets that look one way from a distance and completely different when you’re up close,” he says. “A whole other world inside.”

TANYA MONIQUE CRANE

TANYAMONIQUEJEWELRY.COM

There is nothing shy about Tanya Monique Crane’s jewelry. Discs of woven sweet grass converge in a cluster as big as a breastplate; a fist-size knot of oblong baskets dangles around the neck. She calls these oversize pieces “wearable art,” and indeed they’re a dramatic synthesis of sculpture and jewelry. “When I work, I’m thinking about the travels I’ve done, where I’ve moved, mixing in different perceptions,” she explains.

Tanya’s studio in a onetime Pawtucket creamery bears signs of percolation at every workstation: metalsmithing, enameling, kiln firing. The hand tools are tiny, delicate, perfect for working on production pieces such as her black-and-white full-moon earrings flecked with hieroglyphs. These showcase a technique called sgraffito, where she scratches away black paint to reveal the white enamel beneath. “That’s the fun part, sitting making tick marks,” she says. “I’ve already planned it, so it’s very meditative, very Zen.”

A professor at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Tanya has described her work as existing on the threshold “between prejudice and privilege.” And for her, it was always jewelry, right from the start, beginning with a metalsmithing class in 2001. She indicates a pile of rusty shards—crumbling chunks of commuter rail stairs—that are destined for transformation into something strong and beautiful for a solo show in January. “The first fiber mill in America was in Pawtucket,” she says. “I’m looking at the buildings, the black history, the slave crafts that traveled through this area. I’m looking at the remnants, things falling apart.” The shards are mottled, coppery and black. “It was always a mystery—metal.”

TANYA MONIQUE JEWELRY, PAWTUCKET, RI

LINNY KENNEY

LINNY KENNEY LEATHER, LITTLETON, NH

LINNYKENNEY.COM

If you’re the kind of person who likes to stick your nose in a baseball mitt for that deep whiff of leather, you’ll love Linny Kenney’s leatherworking studio. Or if you dream of living in a whitewashed tree house, you’ll appreciate her second-floor aerie overlooking the Ammonoosuc River, its windows lined with red geraniums.

But if you’re the sort who dreams of riding your horse across the country for eight and a half months (as Linny did in 2010, with tack she made herself), playing guitar as you ride, then you’ll feel deep kinship—even before you’ve had a chance to take in the rugged leather knife rolls, Japanese design–inspired aprons, and bags trimmed with Peruvian cintas that Linny travels to remote villages to find.

Linny’s strong and nimble artwork draws on basics learned from her stepfather, a leatherworker in the ’70s. That strap that tethered her guitar as she rode her horse across the miles? It’s decorated with her first-ever drawing-on-leather: a portrait of her grandfather, holding her as a baby. It’s the same strap she uses when she slings on her guitar for a night of singing with her band at Schilling Beer Co. in downtown Littleton. The knife rolls alone are good reason to sing.

Follow the threads of a life, and you’ll discern a tapestry. For Ruben Marroquin, that tapestry weaves across continents, from Chicago to Caracas, Mexico City to Paris, and finally to Bridgeport’s Arcade Mall, built in the 1840s and topped with a soaring antique-glass atrium. Along the way, the threads have made a bold pattern, encompassing everything from teaching weaving workshops for children to creating textiles, scarves, and ultimately the 3-D artwork that cascades across his studio walls. “I’ve struggled to name it,” he admits of his wrapped canvases. “It involves embroidery, yarn, silk, and hard materials [such as] bottles, bamboo, random objects. It’s not really fiber art—it’s more like fiber sculpture.”

As a kid, Ruben studied painting, but it was in art school in Caracas that his interest took a sharp detour: After running out of paint one day, he began making textile collages instead. Later, in Guatemala, “in search of my roots,” he fell in love with the weaving he saw on the streets. It led to design school in New York and time spent at the École Nationale Supérieur de Création Industrielle in Paris (where he was, he confesses, “more interested in learning to speak French”).

His workspace is filled with voluminous beauties, woven pieces that have caught the eye of designers and publications such as Architectural Digest . But Ruben clearly still loves teaching children, too, with the evidence on display in his studio window. “I’ve done so many kinds of work,” he says, “but it has jumped to something very personal, a sculptural approach that’s very earthy.” He flashes a smile. “I don’t ponder the theories behind it. I’d rather just make it, and then figure out what I’m doing.”

RUBEN MARROQUIN

RUBEN MARROQUIN ART & WEAVING, BRIDGEPORT, CT MARROQUINRUBEN.COM

MORIAH COWLES

ORCHARD STEEL, SHELBURNE, VT

ORCHARDSTEEL.COM

Behind the iconic red farm stand at Shelburne Orchards, and relegated to a corner in a sprawling barn, sits an anvil and a forge no bigger than a breadbox. Moriah Cowles, a bladesmith, calls the forge “Frankenstein”; its patches look stitched-on, almost cartoonish. Nonetheless, it works just fine, heating up to a toasty 2,000 degrees. Proof of its efficiency is close at hand: carbon steel cut and hammered into the shapes of primitive knives. She’s been forging her own knives since 2009. “I have this steel down,” she says, her ropy arms a testament to the demanding craft that she has studied with masters from Mexico to Brooklyn.

In the barn, it’s nearly impossible to envision the elegant blades she’ll finish off in another workshop nearby: polishing the metal, matching each knife to its handle (black walnut, lilac, apple wood, among others), and stamping the blade with her maker’s mark. When there’s enough inventory, she will hold an online lottery—an offbeat approach to selling that allows her to make the knives she chooses, rather than filling custom orders, with time left to manage the family land that her grandfather bought in the 1950s. “I love the art of utility,” says Moriah. “Making something creative with a purpose.”

MELINDA COX

BALANCED DESIGN, PAWTUCKET, RI BALANCED-DESIGN.COM

“It starts with Sharpies,” says Melinda Cox, which is a funny thing to hear in this high-ceilinged studio dotted with artful fabric swatches and midcentury couches covered in bold yellow flowers. The massive 1889 textile mill that engulfs this little design oasis is stark proof of Pawtucket’s prominence in the Industrial Revolution. How ironic that it now houses a textile designer whose fabrics are the antithesis of mass production. And that simple Sharpies are at the root of bold patterns inspired by Calder, Rothko, and bird feet.

The impetus for Balanced Design—named for eco-friendly materials and good design—sprang from the tragedy of 9/11. “I went to Paris right after that,” Melinda says. “I remember sitting on a park bench, noticing how people were bringing their own bags for groceries, cars were smaller, how environmentally friendly Europe was.” It inspired her to begin making organic cotton pillows with splashy wool felt appliqués. “I was one of the first to make environmental products that weren’t beige,” she laughs. The pillows took off.

In 2008, Melinda hit her stride with pared-down, hand-drawn designs that continue to employ local talent. Her silkscreens are made at a Rhode Island textile mill; pillows are sewn in Fall River, Massachusetts. “I used to accompany my mom to the textile mills in North Adams,” she says. “This resonates. I’m connecting directly with my past.”

UNDER THE

WITH HIS NEW BOOK, PHOTOGRAPHER VIBRANT COMMUNITIES AND NATURAL

DARK SKY

STEVEN G. SMITH CELEBRATES THE BEAUTY OF THE THAMES RIVER BASIN.

What does a river reveal about a place?

In the fall of 2013, photographer Steven G. Smith set out to explore that question. A newly minted New Englander who’d just started as an associate professor of visual journalism at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, he focused his lens on the Thames River, from southern Massachusetts through Connecticut, and its communities.

In doing so, Smith—who’d spent most of his life in the American West— encountered a lesser-known part of his new home state. Variously called “the Quiet Corner” or “the Last Green Valley,” it’s a region of rolling farmland, seemingly endless forests, and the lone patch of true dark sky between Washington, D.C., and Boston—which gave Smith the title for his new book of photographs, Under the Dark Sky: Life in the Thames River Basin .

“I had my ideas of what Connecticut was, that it was heavily developed and heavily populated,” says Smith, a Pulitzer Prize winner whose work has appeared in National Geographic , The New York Times , and Smithsonian Magazine. “I was surprised to find this region, which is so close to Boston and New York, and how much rural appeal it had.”

For three years Smith devoted his nights and weekends to the project. He ventured out in blizzards, driving rain, and scorching sun, and racked up more than 10,000 miles on his car. “I became obsessed,” he says.

Out of that obsession was born a body of work that chronicles a New England life that is both rooted in the past and continuously evolving. In Smith’s book, a portrait of a garment mill worker in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, is just a few pages removed from a picture of a young Haitian girl in nearby Norwich, waiting for her parents after church. A photo of a farmer and her draft horses working the land is close to one that showcases a new crop of cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London.

As Smith homed in on this region and its people, he discovered something else. Something personal, and maybe even a little surprising.

“This was my introduction to New England,” says Smith. “I’d come here on assignment but always with a specific focus. Here, I got the chance to study an entire region, to get a candid look at it. It feels like home now.” —Ian Aldrich

ABOVE: New recruits line up for a group photo on their first day at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. Founded in 1876, the school welcomes nearly 250 cadets every summer.

OPPOSITE: Willow Rose Chesner heads up a line of beauty pageant contestants at the Lebanon County Fair in Lebanon, Connecticut.

PREVIOUS SPREAD: The glow of sunrise contrasts with the velvety darkness of the night sky on Bigelow Pond near Union, Connecticut.

LEFT : Dressed in her Sunday best, 6-yearold Angeleah Pamphile waits for her parents after church in Norwich, Connecticut. The Pamphile family attends one of several French-speaking Haitian churches in Norwich, a town that saw the arrival of many Haitian immigrants after a 2010 earthquake devastated that country.

RIGHT : Father George Charland, left, and Father David Galonek prepare at Notre Dame Catholic Church to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the first Catholic Mass in Southbridge, Massachusetts.

BELOW : Connor Priest gets ready to show his sheep at the annual Woodstock Fair, a signature event in Woodstock, Connecticut, for more than 150 years.

PREVIOUS SPREAD: A flock of geese rises along riverbanks lined with old mill buildings in Putnam, Connecticut.

ABOVE : At a powwow held at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum in Mashantucket, Connecticut, Autaquay Peters prepares to lay down her blanket after performing a traditional courtship ritual called the Blanket Dance.

OPPOSITE : A bonfire flotilla on the Quinebaug River lights up the night during River Fire, a summer spectacle organized by the residents of Putnam, Connecticut.

To see more of Steven G. Smith’s exploration of the Thames River Basin, go to newengland.com/ steven-smith.

TAKING THE WHEEL

A NOVICE BOAT CAPTAIN IN STONY CREEK, CONNECTICUT, LEARNS TO NAVIGATE THE CHOPPIEST WATERS OF HER YOUNG LIFE.

BY MEL ALLEN | PHOTOGRAPHS BY JARROD M c CABE

Anna Milne aboard her father’s tour boat, the Volsunga IV, which she now owns and—with perseverance and a little help—has learned to pilot herself.

Sometimes one person’s story can seem to contain the whole of human experience— tragedy and triumph, despair and resilience, dreams dashed and dreams made real. And sometimes it is hidden right in front of us. On this afternoon late last summer, the passengers who board the Volsunga IV for a leisurely 45-minute tour of the Thimble Islands will hear about the history, lore, and legends that have grown up around these bits of land in Long Island Sound, just offshore from Stony Creek, Connecticut. What they won’t hear from the captain is her own story, one that is as enduring in its own right: a story about a father, a daughter, and a village of boat captains who kept a promise.

On this day, as Anna Milne, captain of the away from the dock to thread her way through the most densely packed group of islands in New England, it is 76 degrees, cloudy, almost dead low tide—a tricky time to navigate, with sandbars, boul ders, and chunks of rock that jut above the water like massive turtle heads. She is 26 years old. Her cap tain’s outfit is a black blouse, yellow skirt, and sandals. She wears her long brown hair in braids. Her arms carry multiple bracelets, and her toenails are painted blue. A headset microphone allows her to save her voice and still have her narration carry throughout the boat.

Anna was born a “Creeker,” and her earliest memories are of sitting by her father’s side as he piloted the Volsunga. A lifelong Creeker himself, Bob Milne was known all along the Connecticut shoreline simply as Captain Bob. For a time he ran both his tourist cruise boat and the ferry for Thimble Island residents, before selling the latter in 2002. When he started his tours in 1987, he was 26, and for years he kept a journal filled with his observations and local knowledge. In 2005, after leading an estimated 12,000-plus trips, he published Thimble Islands Storybook: A Captain’s View . He wanted his family to know the islands the way he did.

“In my memory,” Anna told me, “it seems I was on the boat with him every day, all day.” And even when she wasn’t onboard the Volsunga, young Anna would trail after it in her own small craft, noticing where the rocks lay at high tide, learning the currents and how the wind shifted. (Being a Creeker, Anna told me, means that “you can be 7 or 8 years old and get in your Whaler with the little motor, and nobody bats an eye.”)

Over and over, Anna heard the island legends, her father’s anecdotes, with his pauses, his inflections, the way he drew word pictures, his voice rising and falling for emphasis. She understood that the stories he told were not

just to entertain, but to bring the islands to life. The Thimbles would simply be masses of glacier rock to anyone who didn’t know about the families who once lived there or the laborers who cut the islands’ famed pink granite—stone so valued it helped build the Lincoln Memorial and Grant’s Tomb and the base of the Statue of Liberty.

On today’s tour, Anna motors the boat slowly past the Thimbles’ neighborhoods. About two dozen islands hold summer homes, and these are the ones that people come to see. Many of the residents have considerable wealth, and some are famous, yet most opt to live a rustic life: kerosene lanterns, outdoor showers, a quietude they can enjoy only 90 miles from New York City. Anna tells her passengers that Stony Creek and the Thimbles were once considered the “Newport of Connecticut,” with hotels and ballrooms; they were popular enough that President William Taft, who had become enamored with the Thimbles while at Yale, set up a summer White House on Davis Island.

When the Volsunga approaches Cut-in-Two Island, its passengers hear about “a small woman who lived here, Miss Emily,” and the famous small man who courted her: General Tom Thumb, of P.T. Barnum renown. “He was smitten,” Anna says, “and carved his initials on the kitchen door while declaring his love.” She pauses. “Then he found another and left Emily forsaken.” She pauses again, calling up the words her father said thousands of times. “Just like a man,” she says, her voice dropping for emphasis. “The scalawag.”

As the boat turns toward Stony Creek, it passes by Jepson Island. Here, Anna’s tone shifts. She tells about the Hurricane of ’38, which without warning battered the Thimbles, huge waves sending cottages into the sea, and seven lives lost. The passengers grow quiet, attentive, as she recounts how one family on Frisbee Island sought safety on the second floor of their home. The father gathered up anything that might float and tied it all to a mattress, which he implored his daughter to hold on to, no matter what. When the family was swept into the sea, only the child, her arms wrapped around the mattress, washed ashore alive.

I am a passenger on this afternoon tour, and when Anna Milne tells us about the hurricane I think about something she told me earlier, when I first met her that morning. She had been two weeks away from college graduation—her life course set for either law school or a graduate degree in history—and was attending a wedding, when a friend asked her to come outside. He had just received a phone call. “Sometimes,” Anna told me, “life just hits hard.”

Nobody knows exactly what caused the accident that changed everything. Bob Milne was the only one who could say, and afterward, he would never be able to. It happened on Saturday, May 2, 2015, a week into the new tour season. Just a year earlier, this magazine had featured a profile of Captain Bob. In the photo he stands tall and proud on the stern of the Volsunga IV against the backdrop of the Sound and the islands.

After Saturday’s tours were over, Milne and Mike Infantino, his friend from childhood and the captain of Stony Creek’s other 48-passenger tour boat, the Sea Mist , met up at the end of the day. Infantino told me he remembers Milne joking, “When is summer over?”

Later that night, Milne was riding his scooter on Gould Lane in Branford, a well-lit residential street close to Route 1. The night was clear, about 50 degrees. A truck was stopped at a red light, and for some unknown reason, Milne’s scooter collided with the back of it. He was not wearing a helmet.

When the emergency crews reached the scene, they knew how dire it was. The captain of the fire department called Infantino, who was a volunteer firefighter. “They told me he lost a lot of fluid and he might not recover,” Infantino said.

There would be weeks, then months, to come to terms with the limitations of medicine to restore Milne to a semblance of who he was. But Infantino knew what he had to do first. “The Volsunga will do her tours tomorrow,” he promised the Milne family.

A decade older than Milne, Infantino had seen him grow up in Stony Creek just as he himself had, drawn to the sea. Their boats had competed for the same passengers, summer after summer, for more than 30 years. Sometimes, they had words. “Your competitor is three feet away at the dock,” Infantino said. “Maybe you have an issue with each other: ‘You left too late,’ or ‘You came back too early.’ Or ‘That was supposed to be my group and they got on your boat.’” But, he added, “we always apologized to each other and always before the end of the day.”

Infantino knew every licensed boat captain in the area, his two sons among them, and they knew him. Eight of them came together and agreed to run Milne’s tours until season’s end in October. When Infantino piloted the Volsunga, someone else handled his Sea Mist. Former railroad signalman Bob Lillquist, hoping to ease into semi-retirement as ferryboat pilot, came on four days a week, and Anna joined the tours to tell passengers the stories she had grown up hearing. Infantino’s administrative assistant, Laura Missett,

(continued on p. 132)

ABOVE : Anna Milne with the Stony Creek captains who volunteered their time and skills—some for as long as three years— to help keep her family business afloat. From left, ( STANDING ) Jim Robinson, Justin Infantino, and Bob Lillquist; ( SEATED ) Phil Brencher, Mike Infantino, Jeff Weber, Bill Smith, and Bryan Infantino.

OPPOSITE : Captain Bob on the Volsunga in 2013.

Big Plan On Campus

BY ROWAN JACOBSEN

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK FLEMING

How a

engineering college in Massachusetts is retooling higher ed.

little

On a wintry Saturday in the Academic Center of Olin College, 16 teams of high school seniors raced to build a device that could be lowered from a balcony to scoop up a plastic egg from a paper nest 10 feet below and deliver it to safety in a second nest nearby. Their only supplies were grab bags of paper clips, duct tape, string, pipe cleaners, balloons, rubber duckies, and other random items. The room thrummed with the energy of feverishly brainstorming teenagers. The five-person teams had been working for 90 minutes, and time was running short. ¶ “Thirty minutes!” came the call from the Olin students running the competition. “Thirty minutes to complete your contraption!” A nervous thrill went through the kids. They had only just met one another, and a lot was at stake: They all were trying to get into Olin, an engineering school of 350 students in Needham, Massachusetts, whose radical emphasis on collaboration and experiential learning just might transform higher education. ¶ As rock music pounded from portable speakers, the high schoolers used paper clips to attach popsicle sticks to plastic bags, and twisted bits of yarn together to make 10-foot lengths of string. The challenge required each team to work with a partner team, but the only communication allowed between them was via handwritten note, delivered by Olin students on scooters. To raise the difficulty level, the Oliners redacted words at random before delivering the notes. One team got around this by using rubber duckies to communicate in Morse code. Dot-and-dash squeaks cut through the din.

THIS PAGE : Senior Alex Hoppe, left, and junior Kyle Combes are student course assistants, aka NINJAs (Need Information Now? Just Ask), at Olin College in Needham, Massachusetts.

PREVIOUS SPREAD, FROM LEFT : A view outside the Academic Center; a wall of student ideas for improving the Olin Library, part of the brainstorming for a program called Stay Late and Create.

Surveying the chaos approvingly was Emily Roper-Doten, Olin’s dean of admissions. There’s a method to the madness, she told me. Students apply to Olin by completing the Common App, the standard online application used by almost all schools in the United States, but then things get weird. Of those applicants, 250 are invited to one of three Candidates’ Weekends, and how they handle those two days of design challenges, group exercises, and interviews will determine whether they are offered one of the 85 spots in Olin’s next class.

Candidates’ Weekend begins with a design challenge—like the one we were watching—that is always conceived and run by Oliners. “The tradition of it being student-designed is partially to communicate to the candidates that students have a powerful role here,” Roper-Doten explained. “You are more than 1 percent of your class, and you can influence who’s coming here next.” She was particularly pleased that this year’s challenge hinged on the interaction between partner teams. “That’s impressive. It shows an awareness of their own educational experience. We talk a lot about teaming. And a lot of teaming is communication.”

The candidates aren’t evaluated on the success of their contraptions. The key would come later, in the interviews and group exercises. Would they use their experience to meld into a team? Would they come up with constructive ways to tackle the rest of the weekend’s challenges? “We’re looking for creativity, but a lot of it is about interpersonal skills,” said Roper-Doten. “How do they respond when their idea isn’t the winning idea? Do they contribute, or do they just shut down? That’s something we wouldn’t see in a regular admission process.”

Candidates’ Weekend also serves to give applicants a taste of Olin culture. Students who thrive in a traditional lecture environment might not be happy at Olin, which is the first engineering school in the world to be centered on a project-based “do-learn” model. The idea is that life is not a series of tests with correct answers, but rather a continuous stream of poorly defined challenges in which you have to cobble together something that works.

Tests and textbooks are few and far between at Olin. Instead, students tackle dozens of Candidates’ Weekend–style projects, both solo and in teams. They might have to build a heartbeat

monitor, a facial-recognition app, or a system that encourages coffee shop customers to choose reusable cups. By their senior year, they will take on actual engineering projects for companies such as Amazon, GE, and Mitsubishi.

Oliners are trained to immerse themselves in the dynamics of a problem or system, to understand the goals and the needs of the people involved, and to explore as many crazy ideas as possible before settling on a plan. Known as “design thinking,” it’s an approach that can be equally handy whether your problem is how to land a probe on Mars or how to make an affordable T-shirt without a sweatshop. And though it was originally created for engineers, many educators believe design thinking should be a part of every citizen’s schooling.

“Some of the lessons we’re learning at Olin have no business being restricted to engineering,” says Rick Miller, Olin’s president. “They work just as well for integrating philosophy or any other discipline.” Miller is not alone in this opinion. In an influential 2015 article, The Chronicle of Higher Education asked, “Is Design Thinking the New Liberal Arts?” Now hundreds of institutions are making the

ABOVE : In Olin’s Design Nature class, first-year students Mia Skaggs, left, and Kristtiya Guerra work on creating “hoppers,” toys that mimic insect movement as they move. OPPOSITE , FROM LEFT : President Rick Miller, who has led Olin since it opened in 2001; admissions dean Emily Roper-Doten, who presides over a rigorous acceptance process that saw only 14 percent of applicants invited to join Olin’s Class of 2022.

pilgrimage to Olin’s door to find an answer to that question.

Olin College was created from scratch 20 years ago by the Olin Foundation, which believed that a new educational model was needed to produce more bold, socially conscious innovators. Engineer, after all, stems from the same word as ingenuity. But traditional engineering programs, which submit students to years of numbing physics and calculus before any engineering takes place, were not producing the new Leonardos—and the Apples and Amazons of the world were making that clear. We no longer need Cold

War warriors who can calculate all day, they said. We need people who can cre ate and communicate.

For decades, the foundation had funded programs at science and engineering schools to spur that change, but it found that tenured professors and entrenched departments were not about to reinvent their entire system. So in 1997, it tried a Hail Mary: It committed all $460 million of its endowment to the creation of Olin College and put itself out of existence. Its statement of purpose read, “We see a future in which an undergraduate engineering education becomes the true ‘Liberal Education,’ i.e., an education which liberates

life of full citizenship in one’s local, national, and global communities.”

The college was built on 75 acres beside Babson College, a well-known business school located between Needham and Wellesley. The location was not coincidental: Olin students round out their educations with entrepreneurial classes at Babson and humanities classes at Wellesley College.

To run the college, Olin hired Rick Miller, the University of Iowa’s dean of engineering. Miller had become concerned that rigid university structures prevented engineering students from receiving well-rounded educations, so

“If higher ed is this aircraft carrier stuck in the harbor, Olin is a tugboat on the bow. Our job is to reorient higher ed a few degrees port or starboard, not 180 degrees.”

he jumped at the chance to head up a school with no academic departments and a mandate of constant experimentation. He has been Olin’s president ever since.

The college opened in 2001, offering free tuition as a way to woo top candidates. With fewer than 1,000 alumni, the oldest of whom are in their mid30s, it’s deeply reliant on its substantial endowment. When that took a hit in the Great Recession, the college was forced to begin charging half tuition, though it still meets 100 percent of the financial need of all students.

Olin College does not feel much like a college. There’s no ivy, no quad, no red brick buildings. The heart of campus is a curving, postmodern four-story glass oval that would be right at home at Google or SpaceX. As I walked around, people popped in and out of buildings carrying abstract sculptures and Styrofoam boats. In the robo lab, a student was playing chess against an automaton. Experimental aircraft hung from the ceiling. In a classroom wallpapered in sticky notes, Oliners were sprawled across tables and floors, designing insectlike “hoppers” that had to jump many times their own height. In one set of dorms with high ceilings, the kids had suspended their beds from the top and installed a movie theater and a milkshake shop in the spaces below. People danced on the green, twirling fire sticks. It was like a cross between Boeing and Burning Man.

Was that good? It felt invigorating, but four years of Burning Man could get a little old. I asked Maggie Jakus, the Olin senior who was guiding me around campus, if there was indeed a method to the Olin madness.

Jakus told me she’d been attracted to Olin’s progressive approach and its 50/50 gender balance, which is unheard of for an engineering program—but after attending Candidates’ Weekend and being offered admission, she instead chose Cooper Union, a traditional engineering school in New York City. “I got a weird vibe from Olin,” she admitted. “They were like, ‘Look at us! We’re so fun and quirky!’ This guy kept telling me about Doctor Who . Personally, I don’t care about

Doctor Who.” Then there was the size and location. “I grew up in downtown Chicago, and this felt like the middle of nowhere.” Indeed, size is the top reason that people either do or don’t attend Olin. A serene oasis on a leafy hillside far from the nearest store, it can come across as wonderfully bucolic or eerily quiet, depending on how you roll.

Jakus was thrilled to be attending college in the heart of Lower Manhattan, but her enthusiasm faded as soon as classes began. Traditional engineering programs put students through coursework and tests designed to weed out all

but the most technically oriented. Jakus found it frustrating. “It was just math for the sake of math. I memorized a lot of equations, and I still don’t know what they mean. My calculus class was just proofs and theorems. The exam would be, ‘State this theorem.’ There was clearly no application.”

Sophomores Jon Zerez, left, and Corey CochranLepiz show off the Olin Electric Motorsports team’s Formula-style race car to freshman Aditya Sudhakar.

Now, from United of Omaha Life Insurance Company and Companion Life Insurance Company...

Whole Life Insurance.

Are you between the ages of 45 and 85*?

Then this GUARANTEED ACCEPTANCE policy is for YOU! NO medical exam! NO health questions!

>> Choose from 4 benefit levels - up to $25,000!

>> Rates “lock-in” at the age you enroll - never go up again!

>> Call for your FREE all-by-mail enrollment packet!

>> Call TOLL-FREE 1-855-211-1246

Or enroll online at www.MutualOfOmahaGuaranteed.com

Why this policy? Why now?

Our graded death bene t whole life insurance policy can be used to pay funeral costs, nal medical expenses...or other monthly bills. You know how important it can be to help protect your family from unnecessary burdens a er you pass away. Maybe your own parents or loved one did the same for you. OR, maybe they DIDN’T and you sure wish they would have!

e important thing is that, right now, you can make a decision that could help make a di cult time a little easier for your loved ones. It’s a responsible, caring and a ordable decision. And, right now, it’s something you can do with one simple phone call.

You may have been putting o purchasing life insurance, but you don’t have to wait another day. is o er is a great opportunity to help start protecting your family today.

Plus...

Proceeds paid directly to your beneficiary

Builds cash value and is renewable up to age 100!**... Then automatically pays YOU full benefit amount!

Policy cannot be canceled – EVER – because of changes in health!

Your a ordable monthly rate will “lock-in” at your enrollment age* ...

This is a solicitation of insurance, an agent (In OR & WA: producer) may contact you. These policies contain benefits, reductions, limitations, and exclusions to include a reduction in death benefits during the first two years of policy ownership. Policy Form ICC11L057P or state equivalent (in FL: 7722L-0505; in NY: 827Y-0505). Not available in all states. In NY, during the first two years, 110% of premiums will be paid. Website unavailable for NY residents. EASY WAY Whole Life Insurance is underwritten by United of Omaha Life Insurance Company, Omaha, NE 68175, which is licensed nationwide except NY. Life insurance policies issued in NY are underwritten by Companion Life Insurance Company, Hauppauge, NY 11788. Each company is responsible for its own financial and contractual obligations. *Age eligibility and benefits may vary by state.

**In FL policy is renewable until age 121.

AFN44167_0113

Jakus was also disappointed by the male bias of the professors and the student body, which is common in engineering programs. “There was an attitude that this was a man’s world,” she told me. “The physics professor would say things like, ‘Well, the reason there aren’t as many women in STEM is because they aren’t as good at math.’ I thought, This is not how I want to spend my life.”

Over winter break, Jakus messaged a girl she’d met at Olin’s Candidates’ Weekend. “I asked, ‘Is it all a bunch of weirdos watching Doctor Who and unicycling?’ And she said no.”

Jakus switched to Olin after her first year. She immediately liked the hands-on approach, and though she still finds the setting and social life a bit sleepy, she even came to appreciate the size. “It does mean that you actually care about people and are willing to listen. People interact in ways I haven’t seen elsewhere.”

Jakus realized it was paying off during summer break, when she interned at a manufacturing facility alongside an engineering student from a traditional school. “She had a much harder time doing basic things, because she wasn’t used to there being no answer,” Jakus told me. “She was more hesitant to just put herself out there and take a risk, which is something that I’ve definitely learned to do at Olin. She wasn’t big on asking for help, and all we do at Olin is poke each other and ask, ‘How do you do this? How do you do that? How’d you get yours done?’”

cent of whose graduates have founded startups. In explaining this success, Edwards cited the same culture of risktaking and experimentation that Maggie Jakus had mentioned to me, as well as Olin’s 50/50 gender balance. (Companies with at least one female founder tend to outperform the crowd.)

Numbers like that are spurring educational leaders to take a very close look at Olin. Since 2010, more than 830 schools, many from the developing world, have visited Olin to study its program. “Two or three times a month,” says Rick Miller, “people come with a blank sheet and a big checkbook and say, ‘We’re planning to start a new university in our country. How do we do that?’”

In 2018, MIT’s School of Engineering launched an initiative to create a vision for the future of engineering education, for both itself and other institutions. It highlighted Olin as the model, for its hands-on approach and its emphasis on ethics and social engagement. Yet it also noted Olin’s boutique size. It’s one thing to run a Candidates’ Weekend for 250 applicants, but just try it with 5,000. And you can’t change the world 85 graduates at a time. As one of the consultants pointed out, “The next phase in the evolution of engineering education is for the rest of us to figure out how we can offer this type of quality of education at scale.”

mower? Throw that party? What’s the worst thing that could happen?

New England towns make wellrounded citizens because you see how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, and because you have to be quite a few of those pieces. Everyone pitches in and learns that with a combination of collaboration and hands-on learning, you can tackle pretty much whatever comes along. And occasionally, in the midst of making it up as you go, you stumble into greatness.

Olin struck me as the continuation of that long New England experiment, from the free thought and self-reliance of Emerson and Thoreau just a few miles up the road, to Vermont’s John Dewey, the champion of progressive education, who tried to move America away from European-style rote learning and toward a participatory style of education. Every school, Dewey wrote, should be a form of “embryonic community life, active with types of occupations that reflect the life of the larger society and permeated throughout with the spirit of art, history, and science. When the school introduces and trains each child of society into membership within such a little community, saturating him with the spirit of service, and providing him with instruments of effective self-direction, we shall have the deepest and best guarantee of a larger society which is worthy, lovely, and harmonious.”

College That Produces Founders

So does it work? Olin still hasn’t graduated enough students to really tell. But there are some tantalizing signs that something important is happening. One is a 2017 study by Lee Edwards, an Olin graduate who is now a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, titled, “The

at Five Times the Rate of Stanford.” Edwards pointed out that although Stanford is frequently cited as the university that produces the most startup founders, in terms of percentage of graduates who launch new ventures it ranks a distant third (0.51 percent) behind MIT (0.75) and Olin, 2.77 per-

But can you? What I saw happening at Olin was all about its smallness. It’s a pattern I recognized from a lifetime spent in small New England towns, so it seemed entirely appropriate that’s where Olin had sprung up.

In a large university or a big city, it’s easy to opt out: Whatever need arises, whether it’s a concert to be played or a building to be designed, you just assume that someone better qualified—some expert—will take care of it. In fact, you don’t dare screw it up. The system is too large and complex to grasp, and so you find your specialty and become a cog.

Not so in the small town. Who’s going to take that role in the theater production, if not you? Who’s going to rebuild the grange hall? Teach soccer? Join the select board? Fix that lawn-

Dewey never was able to push American education where he thought it needed to go, and he never would have imagined that an engineering school would be the place where his philosophy would bloom.

He also would’ve been a little bit creeped out by the notion that design thinking might be the new liberal arts. As was I, having participated in enough design workshops to know that they can sometimes feel like the Cult of the Sticky Note.

There’s a lot to be said for the old liberal arts. I like Boeing, and I like Burning Man, but I also like Brontë, Bergman, and Buddha. It’s not the worst idea to get a firm grounding in other people’s ideas before you start reengineering society.

Now you can finally have all of the soothing benefits of a relaxing warm bath, or enjoy a convenient refreshing shower while seated or standing.

Introducing Safe Step Walk-In Tub’s exclusive NEW Shower Package!

✓ First and only walk-in tub available with a customizable shower

✓ Fixed rainfall shower head is adjustable for your height and pivots to offer a seated shower option

✓ Durable frameless tempered glass enclosure available

✓ High-quality tub complete with a comprehensive lifetime warranty on the entire tub

✓ Top-of-the-line installation and service, all included at one low, affordable price

Now

And yet, I could easily see how every liberal arts student could benefit from a dose of the team-centered, project-based training being taught at Olin. The classical artes liberales were the suite of skills and knowledge sets needed to become a well-informed and constructive member of society. But what skills does society need today? Who do I need in my small town?

Well, I’d want the Donald Hall types, writing curmudgeonly poems and thumbing their noses at design thinking from their defiantly unmodern farms, but I’d also want the Leonardo types, who can reimagine a city so that air and ideas flow freely, or look at a feather and be inspired to build something beautiful and new.

In other words, I’m pretty sure I’d love to have these kids in my town. As I watched them in the design challenge, attaching their final lines and tightening their ties, I thought of barn raisings and volunteer fire departments. I thought about their voices at Town Meeting Day.

“Ten minutes!” the Olin ringmaster shouted. “Finish your contraptions!”

And then it was time. Rooted on by a crowd of students, teachers, and parents, the high schoolers took turns

lowering their inventions from the balcony to the nest 10 feet below. They had three minutes to lift the egg and deposit it in the higher nest.

It wasn’t easy.

A plastic cup with a cardboard hatch bumped the egg but couldn’t scoop it up.

A cardboard box festooned with sticky tape lifted the egg easily, but no amount of shaking could dislodge it into the upper nest. Time expired, and the crowd groaned.

The rubber ducky team had fashioned a hammock out of paper, its four corners attached to strings, so they could operate it like a marionette. After their partner team cleanly knocked the egg into the hammock with a wrecking ball made from a wire filament spool, they lifted the hammock above the second nest, crossed two corners of the hammock to form a spout, and lowered that end toward the nest. The egg plopped safely inside, and the crowd cheered.

Overall, only a few teams successfully rescued the egg, but it didn’t matter. Several Oliners proudly cited Yoda’s advice to Luke Skywalker: “The greatest teacher, failure is.” They had just shared two hours of pure creativity, and they were already bonding.

A few of them may even have started to wonder if this was what college— and life—could be like.

Rick Miller says Olin was always meant to be an ongoing experiment. To do that, it has to stay small and nimble. It doesn’t need to be an exact model for other universities; it just needs to light the way. “If higher ed is this aircraft carrier stuck in the harbor, Olin is a tugboat on the bow,” Miller says. “Our job is to reorient higher ed a few degrees port or starboard, not 180 degrees. Even 10 degrees could make a really big dent in the universe.”

Still buzzing from the design challenge, the candidates headed to the dining hall for lunch with their newfound friends. From there, the afternoon would be filled with individual interviews and group exercises, and the evening with story slams and art performances.

As I watched them go, I couldn’t help but feel hopeful. I didn’t envy them the world they would face, with its devilishly complicated problems, but they seemed as if they were looking forward to taking a crack at it. Maybe they could change the world 85 graduates at a time. At the very least, they were going to have a lot of fun trying.

Students cross the Oval, the central campus green (in the background is Milas Hall, which houses the library). Olin’s location in Needham puts the school less than 20 miles from the bustling educational and technological hubs of Boston and Cambridge.

Taking the Wheel

(continued from p. 119)

took on all the office work for both tour companies. The captains put family life on hold, and days off from other jobs became time spent piloting the Volsunga. Passenger fees were put in a separate envelope for Anna; when she tried to pay the captains, they refused.

Meanwhile, Milne was in the ICU at Yale–New Haven Hospital. “In the movies,” Anna said, “you are there when he opens his eyes. It wasn’t like that. It’s not like the movies. We thought maybe he’d be able to come back. We just didn’t know.” After six weeks, her father was moved to a rehabilitation center that specialized in traumatic brain injuries. He could not speak, walk, or eat, and gained his nourishment only via a feeding tube. Eventually he was moved to a nursing home. Sometimes Anna felt he knew who she was, other times not. Lifelong friends like Mike Infantino felt bad when they did not visit, and worse when they did.

Anna found a degree of solace in joining the captains aboard her father’s boat. She knew the narration by heart. As the captains navigated the Sound, she began to tell about the once-abundant thimbleberries that had given the islands their name, and how an excited scuba diver had brought what he thought was a pirate’s cannonball to the surface only to find it was a ball from a long-ago bowling alley on one of the islands. She found a YouTube video of her father’s tour, and she perfected the nuances, the tricks of rapport. Each day, she gained more confidence that she could hold her own with passengers.

When the season ended, the captains, along with Anna’s mother, Beth, and Laura Missett, had done all they could to keep the business alive. Now it was up to Anna to take the next step. “I knew I had to go to SeaSchool,” Anna said, “knew I had to learn to run the boat.” For her, there would be neither law school nor graduate school.

In the winter of 2016, Anna enrolled in two months of intensive, all-day classes at the SeaSchool in Freeport, Long Island. She studied everything from navigation and rules of the road to deckhand procedures. The instructor told her there had never been a female student in class before.

In May 2016, Anna started a GoFundMe page to buy the Volsunga from the family estate. More than 150 people combined to contribute nearly $14,000, and that season the boat became Anna’s.

The Stony Creek captains were again ready to not only pilot the Volsunga, but also to mentor Anna, to give her the confidence to one day truly be a captain. Bob Lillquist encouraged her to take the helm while doing the narration, as he stood by to maneuver through difficult areas and to dock. “Anna had to get comfort-

“I had been training for these years and everyone knew I was ready, but I was still nervous to go alone,” Anna told me. “My mom came on as my first mate, which made me both more comfortable and more nervous. She asked me if I was ready for her to [cast off]. I just took a deep breath and said, ‘Let’s do it.’ The trip went fine, and when I got back to the dock I told Bob that he could take the rest of the summer off.

“I would have continued to tell myself I wasn’t ready if it wasn’t for that one trip. I just had to get over that initial fear.... But after that trip, I thought, ‘I know how to handle this.’”

able behind the wheel,” he said. “It’s real tricky with reefs and rocks that you can’t see at high tide. These are among the hardest waters to navigate on the Sound.”

For her part, Anna said Lillquist became a crucial part of her new career journey. “Bob has always been in my life. [Before,] I didn’t know how important he was. He became my new Captain Bob.”

Anna had spent hundreds of hours on Long Island Sound, but the responsibility was different now, the stakes much higher. “I was hesitant,” she said. “You put nearly 50 people in this boat, and their lives are in your hands. I had never thought about that before. My dad just did it.”

When the 2017 tour season began, Lillquist stayed by Anna’s side. Then, one day in mid-June, a group of international students from Yale booked a special trip on the Volsunga —and none of the captains could get away to help Anna.

Afew weeks after I took Anna’s Thimble Islands tour and met with Mike Infantino and Bob Lillquist—who both declared their pride in watching Anna’s seamanship abilities grow—her father was taken from his nursing home to the hospital. Anna was out on her final tour for Saturday, September 8. She was steering the boat past the island where Captain Kidd had his hideout, when the phone rang with the news: Her father was failing. He died the next day, his family by the bedside.

In a way, Anna told me, it felt as though she had her father back for the first time since his accident. She imagined him now being able to finally see her at the helm, his beloved Volsunga safe in her hands. Shortly after he died, she said, it rained and then the sun came out. “There was a rainbow,” she said, “and it started at my childhood home and ended at his childhood home.” She took a photograph of it, which she keeps on her phone.

A few days after that, on a day of rain with no passengers, she took the Volsunga out alone because, she told me, “the boat lost him too.” Then she steered back to Stony Creek, where Captain Bob had ended his workdays for so many years, and tied up to the dock with the knots he had taught her.

“It may sound silly,” she said, “but I feel like the boat and I finally know each other. She trusts me and I trust her, and we listen to each other.”

“MY MOM ASKED ME IF I WAS READY FOR HER TO [CAST OFF]. I JUST TOOK A DEEP BREATH AND SAID, ‘LET’S DO IT.’”

Costa Rica 9-Day Tour $1295

Explore Costa Rica on a Fully Guided Tour with Caravan—All-inclusive with All Hotels, All Meals and All Activities—Call Now for Choice Dates!

Volcanoes, Beaches, and Rainforests.

Explore Costa Rica on a fully guided tour with Caravan.

All-inclusive with all hotels, all meals, and all activities. You’ll see exotic birds and wildlife, hike in jungle rainforests, view volcanoes, soak in hot springs, cruise through biological reserves, and relax on tropical ocean beaches.

Detailed itinerary at Caravan.com. Call now for choice dates!

Discover for yourself why smart shoppers and experienced travelers have chosen their travel packages from Caravan Tours since 1952. ¡Hasta la vista!

“ All Hotels Were Excellent! There is no way I would’ve stayed in such superior and sophisticated hotels for the price I paid ”

—Client, Salinas, CA

“ Brilliant, Affordable Pricing ” Arthur Frommer, Travel Editor

Volcanoes, Beaches, and Rainforests. Explore Costa Rica on a Fully Guided Tour with Caravan.

Manuel Antonio National Park

Three-toed Sloth

Capuchin Monkey

Scarlet Macaw

Bird Watching Morpho Butter y

San Bada Hotel

Caño Negro

Keel-billed Toucan

EnergAire continuously purifies up to 4,000 cubic feet (a large room) of air and makes it breathable and invigorating. Restores natural ion balance to unhealthy environments caused by industrial pollution, automobile exhaust, central airconditioning, and heating, smoke, dust, pollen, animal fur. . . removes microscopic pollution particles not removed by any other method of air purification. EnergAire was rated Number One for speed of removal of cigarette smoke by the leading U.S. consumer protection magazine. It has no noisy fan, no costly filter, and requires no maintenance. Uses less than 2 watts. 9" high. 3" diameter. Weighs less than 1 pound. $69.95

Made

RODAR is the super-powerful professional ultrasonic pest repeller with up to 60 or more times the power of other devices — and power is what makes RODAR so effective. RODAR ultrasound equals a jet engine — noise unbearable to pests but at frequencies humans and pets cannot hear. RODAR units are completely safe. RODAR drives pests out and keeps them from getting in. Handsome simulated walnut cabinet 5-5/8" high. Weight 1-1/2 pounds. Uses less than 5 watts. $99.95

90-day money-back guarantee — 12-month warranty.To order: Send cost for unit(s) plus $10.00 each for shipping and handling (in Mass. add 6.25% tax) by check, money order, MasterCard, Visa, or Discover number and expiration date to Micron Corp. Call

www.MicronCorp.com/yankee

GETS RID OF RATS, MICE, BATS, SQUIRRELS, ROACHES & OTHER PESTS.

with the Stainless Steel

PERFECT FOR:

mean more thorough burning with less ash.

* Always check local ordinances before burning.

its cast iron flywheel and steel components show almost no wear after splitting hundreds of cords. • So fast, splits anything a hydraulic splitter will in one-sixth the time! DR® KINETIC SPLITTERS Split wood indoors! ELECTRIC MODELS TOO! Starting at just $49999 197EDB © 2018 Call for FREE DVD and Catalog! FREE SHIPPING 6 MONTH TRIAL SOME LIMITATIONS APPLY 197EDA © 2018 TOLL FREE DRlogsplitters.com 888-208-5282 Go Online or Call for FREE Info Kit and Factory Direct Offer! TOLL FREE BurnCage.com 888-208-5282 STAINLESS STEEL CONSTRUCTION is lightweight, durable, and portable (it folds for easy storage). PERFORATED LID and sidewalls maximize airflow and trap embers. 1600° TEMPERATURES mean more thorough burning with less ash. BURN SAFELY Want more of the best of New England food, living, travel, and seasons? Visit NewEngland.com to download free guides and get our favorite recipes, day-trip ideas, gardening advice, Yankee magazine features, and many other great resources. NewEngland.com/today JOIN THE NEWENGLAND.COM COMMUNITY!

SANDWICH LANTERN

ONION LIGHTS ANCHOR LIGHTS

CHANDELIERS • SCONCES

Available in:

SOLID COPPER or SOLID BRASS

17 Jan Sebastian Dr., Unit #1, Sandwich, MA 02563 508-833-0515

www.sandwichlantern.com

Issue:_________________________

August 2013

made in USA

Since 1988

17 Jan Sebastian Dr., Unit #1, Sandwich, MA 02563 508-833-0515

www.sandwichlantern.com

Issue: proof carefully. Approval must be returned by _______________________ responsible for errors once proof has been signed— or if not returned by the above date. color proof/pdf is to show color break only. Colors do not accurately actual printed advertisement as it will appear in the publication.

mark them clearly.________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Date ___________________ proof necessary) Signature: _________________________________________________ needed. (send new proof) Signature: ______________________________________________

RABIDEAU

MEDIA GROUP RABIDEAU MEDIA GROUP

508.771.6549 I

at these

Noble

Safeway Sam’s Club Target Tractor Supply

True Value

Walmart or wherever magazines are sold

Yankee Magazine has learned that some of our subscribers have received deceptive renewal notifications from several unauthorized companies. Only Yankee Magazine is authorized to issue renewal notifications for our subscriptions. The return address on the envelope provided with your subscription renewal will read: P.O. Box 422447 Palm Coast, FL 32142-2447

Yankee Magazine DOES NOT contract with third parties to solicit or receive subscription payments. If you receive a renewal and are unsure of its authenticity, please call our subscriber services department: 800-288-4284

Sticking Power

Remembering Boston’s Great Molasses Flood, a freak accident that still fascinates scientists and storytellers a century later.

One hundred years ago on January 15, the cadets aboard the USS Nantucket broke off their training to rush to the aid of drowning victims. But instead of steaming from their Boston Harbor berth to a disaster at sea, the 116 sailors rushed down the gangplank and into the streets of Boston’s North End, which had just been devastated by a tidal wave the likes of which had never been seen before—namely, 2.3 million gallons of molasses.

The source of the gooey tsunami was a five-story steel tank owned by Purity Distilling, which used molasses to make rum as well as alcohol for munitions. The company had built the tank a few years earlier on a Commercial Street lot (today the site of Langone Park) and, in a grim foreshadowing, painted it brown to disguise the molasses leaks that plagued the structure almost from the start.

When the tank ruptured at about 12:40 p.m. that fateful Wednesday in 1919, molasses spewed out in a 25-foot-high wave that traveled up to 35 mph and inundated the neighborhood. It knocked a fire station off its foundations and buckled the steel girders beneath elevated railroad tracks—“as if by the smash of a giant’s fist,” wrote the Boston Post. All told, 21 people were killed and 150 were injured, while property damage reached an estimated $100 million in today’s dollars.

Decades later, new chapters in this bizarre tragedy are still being written. In 2004, Massachusetts historian Stephen Puleo published a best-selling account called Dark Tide , which mined fresh details from court papers that had been buried in archives for 85 years. A 2014 engineering investigation into why the tank failed found that its walls were far too thin and made from a steel susceptible to fracture (the same type used on the Titanic, it turns out). Two years later, Harvard researchers delved into fluid dynamics to show why the wave of molasses had been so deadly. And just last May, the historical musical Molasses in January premiered off-Broadway—a testament to the Great Molasses Flood’s power to grip people’s imaginations, even a century on. —Jenn Johnson

Dark Tide author Stephen Puleo will give a talk at the Boston Public Library on 1/15, the centennial of the flood. For details, go to bpl.org.

The aftermath of the January 15, 1919, molasses tank rupture on Commercial Street between Copps Hill and the North End Park playground. Cleanup crews used millions of gallons of salt water to help disperse the molasses into Boston Harbor, which was reportedly stained brown for months.

WHAT IF you went for a walk in the woods today…

and found crystals, emerald green crystals on the roots of an upturned tree?* What if it was a treasure trove of Maine tourmaline? Everyone would be excited Truth is, gems: gem tourmaline in brilliant green is coming out of the ground in the Western Mountains of Maine right now

The picture above was taken July 15, 2018 at the SparHawk mine. The rings shown above are our newest creations in SparHawk mint green teal Maine tourmaline. New tourmaline jewelry added every week Pre-shop over one-hundred luscious SparHawk tourmaline